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Guide · Schedule C / AGI
Self-employed health insurance deduction in Excel
If you may claim the self-employed health insurance deduction, Excel will not decide eligibility for you — but a clean premium log makes March less painful. This is a practical recordkeeping guide, not tax, legal, or accounting advice.
What to track (high level)
| Field | Why it helps | Example note |
|---|---|---|
| Premium date / month | Matches bank or marketplace statements | 2026-03-01 |
| Amount paid | Running total for the year | $412.00 |
| Who covered | Self / spouse / dependents labels for your notes | Self + spouse |
| Plan / payer | Marketplace, private, or association plan name | Plan ID in Notes |
| Source file | PDF or statement filename for audit trail | 2026-03-premium.pdf |
Eligibility, net-profit limits, and interaction with premium tax credits are rules questions — confirm current IRS guidance (e.g. Pub 535 / Form 1040 instructions) or ask a preparer. Do not invent a deduction from a messy bank feed.
Minimum columns in a sheet
- Date, Payee, Category (consistent label such as “SE health insurance”)
- Amount and Notes (plan, covered people, statement filename)
- Optional: month tag or period so quarter-end filters stay easy
- Keep employer-sponsored or reimbursed premiums out of the same running total unless you know they belong
Monthly habit
- When the premium clears, drop the statement PDF into a year folder
- Enter one row in the expense log with the same category every time
- Do not invent new category labels mid-year
- At quarter-end, filter the category and compare against marketplace or insurer totals
Health insurance premiums are not mileage and not ordinary Schedule C “Insurance (other than health)” rows in every workflow — keep the label intentional so you can hand a clean total to a preparer.
Common mistakes
- Mixing dental/vision or HSA contributions into the same undifferentiated category without notes
- Logging premiums paid with advance premium tax credits without documenting the net amount you actually paid
- Changing category spellings (“Health”, “SE HI”, “Insurance”) so filters miss rows
- Waiting until tax software asks for a year total with no source sheet
Record-keeping only — not tax advice. Confirm deductible treatment with IRS.gov or a preparer.