Can Medical Expenses Be Deducted From Income Tax? Absolutely, medical expenses can be deducted from your income tax, potentially lowering your tax liability and boosting your income in the process. At income-partners.net, we understand that navigating the complexities of tax deductions can be daunting, and we’re here to provide clear, actionable information to help you maximize your financial well-being. By understanding the rules and leveraging potential partnerships, you can navigate the tax system more effectively. We’ll explore how these deductions work, what expenses qualify, and how they can be used to increase earnings through strategic financial planning.
1. What Qualifies as a Medical Expense for Tax Deduction?
Medical expenses include costs for diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating, or preventing disease, affecting any part or function of the body. These are the costs you can potentially deduct from your income tax, leading to savings.
To clarify, these expenses include payments for legal medical services from physicians, surgeons, dentists, and other medical practitioners. According to the IRS, these expenses must primarily alleviate or prevent a physical or mental disability or illness, excluding those merely beneficial to general health, such as vitamins or vacations. For example, if you’re working with financial partners to manage your wealth, understanding these deductions can significantly enhance your financial strategy.
2. Which Medical Expenses Can I Include This Tax Year?
You can include only the medical and dental expenses you paid this year, not payments for future care. This rule does not apply to flexible spending arrangements (FSAs), according to the IRS. The payment date is generally when you mail or deliver a check. For “pay-by-phone” or online accounts, it’s the date the financial institution reports the payment. Credit card charges are included in the year the charge is made, not when you pay the amount. Understanding these timelines can help you plan effectively with your income partners.
3. What if I Missed Deducting Medical Expenses in a Previous Year?
If you didn’t claim a medical or dental expense deductible in an earlier year, you can file Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to claim a refund. Generally, a claim for refund must be filed within 3 years from the original return date or within 2 years from when the tax was paid, whichever is later. This could be a crucial aspect to discuss with your income partners when reviewing past financial strategies.
4. What Medical Expenses Are Not Deductible?
You can’t include medical expenses paid by insurance companies or other sources, whether the payments were made directly to you, the patient, or the medical service provider. Additionally, expenses for procedures or treatments not deemed medically necessary by healthcare professionals are typically excluded. Understanding these limitations helps you better manage your partnership agreements and financial planning.
5. How Do Separate Returns Impact Medical Expense Deductions?
If you and your spouse file separate returns in a non-community property state, each can include only the medical expenses each actually paid. Expenses from a joint checking account are considered paid equally by each, unless you can prove otherwise. This separation might affect how you coordinate financial matters with your income partners.
5.1 Community Property States and Medical Expenses
In community property states (or for registered domestic partners in Nevada, Washington, or California), medical expenses paid from community funds are divided equally when filing separately. Expenses from one individual’s separate funds can only be included by that individual. Consulting Pub. 555 can provide further clarity if you’re not filing a joint return. This impacts how you and your spouse can strategize to maximize income and minimize tax liabilities through income-partners.net.
6. How Much of My Medical Expenses Can I Deduct?
Generally, you can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). This threshold is important for deciding if itemizing deductions is more beneficial than taking the standard deduction, and optimizing this can be part of a strategy to maximize earnings.
7. Whose Medical Expenses Can I Include on My Tax Return?
You can include medical expenses you pay for yourself, your spouse, or your dependent when the services were provided or when you paid for them. Different rules apply for decedents and individuals under multiple support agreements. These rules are crucial when planning your deductions and should align with your income strategies.
7.1 Spouse’s Medical Expenses
You can include medical expenses for your spouse if you were married when they received the services or when you paid for them. Even if you file separate returns, you can include these expenses if you paid them after marriage for treatment received before marriage.
Example 1: Your spouse received medical treatment before you were married, but you paid for it after getting married. You can include these expenses in your medical expense deduction, even if you and your spouse file separate returns. This knowledge is helpful for those who are building their lives and financial futures together.
Example 2: You paid medical expenses this year for your spouse, Kitt, who passed away last year. You married Royal this year and file a joint return. Because you were married to Kitt when Kitt received the medical services, you can include those expenses in your deduction this year. This highlights the importance of understanding tax implications in various life stages.
7.2 Dependent’s Medical Expenses
You can include medical expenses paid for your dependent if they were your dependent when the services were provided or when you paid the expenses.
To include these expenses, the person must have been your dependent either at the time the medical services were provided or at the time you paid the expenses. An individual generally qualifies as your dependent for medical expense deduction purposes if they meet certain requirements, even if they earned gross income of $5,050 or more in 2024, filed a joint return for 2024, or could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
This exception broadens who can be considered a dependent for medical expense purposes, offering more flexibility in claiming deductions.
7.3 Adopted Child Exception
If you are a U.S. citizen or national and your adopted child lived with you as a member of your household for 2024, that child doesn’t have to be a U.S. citizen or national, or a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico to qualify for the medical expense deduction.
7.4 Qualifying Child
A qualifying child is a child who meets specific criteria, including age, residency, and support, allowing you to include their medical expenses in your deduction. A qualifying child is a child who:
- Is your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half sister, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild, niece, or nephew);
- Was:
- Under age 19 at the end of 2024 and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly),
- Under age 24 at the end of 2024, a full-time student, and younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly), or
- Any age and permanently and totally disabled;
- Lived with you for more than half of 2024;
- Didn’t provide over half of their own support for 2024; and
- Didn’t file a joint return, other than to claim a refund.
Adopted Child. A legally adopted child is treated as your own child, including a child lawfully placed with you for legal adoption.
You can include medical expenses that you paid for a child before adoption if the child qualified as your dependent when the medical services were provided or when the expenses were paid.
7.5 Child of Divorced or Separated Parents
For the medical and dental expenses deduction, a child of divorced or separated parents can be treated as a dependent of both parents. Each parent can include the medical expenses they pay for the child if:
- The child is in the custody of one or both parents for more than half the year;
- The child receives over half of the child’s support during the year from the parents; and
- The child’s parents:
- Are divorced or legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance,
- Are separated under a written separation agreement, or
- Live apart at all times during the last 6 months of the year.
This provision supports divorced or separated parents in managing their financial responsibilities towards their children’s healthcare.
7.6 Qualifying Relative
A qualifying relative is a person who meets specific relationship, residency, and support criteria, enabling you to include their medical expenses.
To be a qualifying relative, a person must meet certain conditions:
- Relationship Test: The person must be your:
- Son, daughter, stepchild, or foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild),
- Brother, sister, half brother, half sister, or a son or daughter of any of them,
- Father, mother, or an ancestor or sibling of either of them (for example, your grandmother, grandfather, aunt, or uncle),
- Stepbrother, stepsister, stepfather, stepmother, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law, or
- Any other person (other than your spouse) who lived with you all year as a member of your household if your relationship didn’t violate local law.
- Not a Qualifying Child: The person cannot be a qualifying child of any taxpayer for 2024.
- Support: You must provide over half of their support in 2024.
7.7 Support Claimed Under a Multiple Support Agreement
If you are considered to have provided more than half of a qualifying relative’s support under a multiple support agreement, you can include medical expenses you pay for that person.
A multiple support agreement is used when two or more people provide more than half of a person’s support, but no one alone provides more than half. This rule is helpful for families sharing the responsibility of caring for a relative.
Example: You and your three siblings each provide one-fourth of your parent’s total support. Under a multiple support agreement, you treat your parent as your dependent. You paid all of your parent’s medical expenses, and your siblings repaid you for three-fourths of these expenses. You can include only one-fourth of your parent’s medical expenses in figuring your medical expense deduction. Your siblings can’t include any part of the expenses. However, if you and your siblings share the nonmedical support items and you separately pay all of your parent’s medical expenses, you can include the unreimbursed amount you paid for your parent’s medical expenses in your medical expenses.
7.8 Decedent’s Medical Expenses
Medical expenses paid before death by the decedent are included in figuring any deduction for medical and dental expenses on the decedent’s final income tax return.
The survivor or personal representative of a decedent can choose to treat certain expenses paid by the decedent’s estate for the decedent’s medical care as paid by the decedent at the time the medical services were provided. These expenses must be paid within the 1-year period beginning with the day after the date of death. If you are the survivor or personal representative making this choice, you must attach a statement to the decedent’s Form 1040 or 1040-SR saying that the expenses haven’t been and won’t be claimed on the estate tax return.
This provision allows for the medical expenses of the deceased to be properly accounted for, either on their final income tax return or as a claim against the estate tax return, but not both.
What if the decedent’s return had been filed and the medical expenses weren’t included?
Form 1040-X can be filed for the year or years the expenses are treated as paid, unless the period for claiming a refund has passed. Generally, a claim for refund must be filed within 3 years of the date the original return was filed, or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever date is later.
Example: Hudson properly filed a 2023 income tax return. Hudson died in 2024 with unpaid medical expenses of $1,500 from 2023 and $1,800 in 2024. If the expenses are paid within the 1-year period, Hudson’s survivor or personal representative can file an amended return for 2023 claiming a deduction based on the $1,500 medical expenses. The $1,800 of medical expenses from 2024 can be included on the decedent’s final return for 2024.
What if you pay medical expenses of a deceased spouse or dependent?
If you paid medical expenses for your deceased spouse or dependent, include them as medical expenses on your Schedule A (Form 1040) in the year paid, whether they are paid before or after the decedent’s death. The expenses can be included if the person was your spouse or dependent either at the time the medical services were provided or at the time you paid the expenses. This allowance is crucial in managing end-of-life expenses and tax implications.
By considering these aspects, individuals can work closely with their income partners to ensure all eligible medical expenses are accurately reported, maximizing potential tax deductions and financial benefits through income-partners.net.
8. What Specific Medical Expenses Are Includible?
Here is a list of specific medical expenses that you can include in figuring your medical expense deduction.
8.1 Abortion
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for a legal abortion.
8.2 Acupuncture
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for acupuncture.
8.3 Alcoholism
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for an inpatient’s treatment at a therapeutic center for alcohol addiction. This includes meals and lodging provided by the center during treatment. You can also include amounts you pay for transportation to and from alcohol recovery support organization meetings if attendance is pursuant to competent medical advice.
8.4 Ambulance
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for ambulance service.
8.5 Annual Physical Examination
See Physical Examination, later.
8.6 Artificial Limb
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for an artificial limb.
8.7 Artificial Teeth
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for artificial teeth.
8.8 Bandages
You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical supplies such as bandages.
8.9 Birth Control Pills
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for birth control pills prescribed by a doctor.
8.10 Body Scan
You can include in medical expenses the cost of an electronic body scan.
8.11 Braille Books and Magazines
You can include in medical expenses the part of the cost of Braille books and magazines for use by a visually impaired person that is more than the cost of regular printed editions.
8.12 Breast Pumps and Supplies
You can include in medical expenses the cost of breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation. This doesn’t include the costs of excess bottles for food storage.
8.13 Breast Reconstruction Surgery
You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for breast reconstruction surgery, as well as breast prosthesis, following a mastectomy for cancer.
8.14 Capital Expenses
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for special equipment installed in a home, or for improvements, if their main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse, or your dependent. The cost of permanent improvements that increase the value of your property may be partly included as a medical expense.
Certain improvements made to accommodate a home to your disabled condition, or that of your spouse or your dependents who live with you, don’t usually increase the value of the home and the cost can be included in full as medical expenses.
8.15 Car
You can include in medical expenses the cost of special hand controls and other special equipment installed in a car for the use of a person with a disability. You can also include the difference between the cost of a regular car and a car specially designed to hold a wheelchair. The includible costs of using a car for medical reasons are explained under Transportation, later.
8.16 Chiropractor
You can include in medical expenses fees you pay to a chiropractor for medical care.
8.17 Christian Science Practitioner
You can include in medical expenses fees you pay to Christian Science practitioners for medical care.
8.18 Condoms
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to purchase condoms.
8.19 Contact Lenses
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for contact lenses needed for medical reasons. You can also include the cost of equipment and materials required for using contact lenses, such as saline solution and enzyme cleaner.
8.20 Crutches
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to buy or rent crutches.
8.21 Dental Treatment
You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for the prevention and alleviation of dental disease.
8.22 Diagnostic Devices
You can include in medical expenses the cost of devices used in diagnosing and treating illness and disease.
Example: You have diabetes and use a blood sugar test kit to monitor your blood sugar level. You can include the cost of the blood sugar test kit in your medical expenses.
8.23 Disabled Dependent Care Expenses
Some disabled dependent care expenses may qualify as either:
- Medical expenses, or
- Work-related expenses for purposes of taking a credit for dependent care. You can choose to apply them either way as long as you don’t use the same expenses to claim both a credit and a medical expense deduction.
8.24 Drug Addiction
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for an inpatient’s treatment at a therapeutic center for drug addiction. This includes meals and lodging provided by the center during treatment.
You can also include in medical expenses amounts you pay for transportation to and from drug treatment meetings in your community if the attendance is pursuant to competent medical advice that the membership is necessary for the treatment of a disease involving the excessive use of drugs.
8.25 Eye Exam
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for eye examinations.
8.26 Eyeglasses
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for eyeglasses and contact lenses needed for medical reasons.
8.27 Eye Surgery
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for eye surgery to treat defective vision, such as laser eye surgery or radial keratotomy.
8.28 Fertility Enhancement
You can include in medical expenses the cost of procedures performed on yourself, your spouse, or your dependent to overcome an inability to have children, such as in vitro fertilization.
8.29 Guide Dog or Other Service Animal
You can include in medical expenses the costs of buying, training, and maintaining a guide dog or other service animal to assist a visually impaired or hearing disabled person, or a person with other physical disabilities.
8.30 Health Institute
You can include in medical expenses fees you pay for treatment at a health institute only if the treatment is prescribed by a physician and the physician issues a statement that the treatment is necessary to alleviate a physical or mental disability or illness of the individual receiving the treatment.
8.31 Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to entitle you, your spouse, or a dependent to receive medical care from an HMO. These amounts are treated as medical insurance premiums.
8.32 Hearing Aids
You can include in medical expenses the cost of a hearing aid and batteries, repairs, and maintenance needed to operate it.
8.33 Hospital Services
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for the cost of inpatient care at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to receive medical care. This includes amounts paid for meals and lodging.
8.34 Insurance Premiums
You can include in medical expenses insurance premiums you pay for policies that cover medical care. You can’t include in medical expenses insurance premiums that were paid and for which you are claiming a credit or deduction.
Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plan
Don’t include in your medical and dental expenses any insurance premiums paid by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan unless the premiums are included on your Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement. Also, don’t include any other medical and dental expenses paid by the plan unless the amount paid is included on your Form W-2.
Medicare Part A
If you aren’t covered under social security (or weren’t a government employee who paid Medicare tax), you can voluntarily enroll in Medicare Part A. In this situation, you can include the premiums you paid for Medicare Part A as a medical expense.
Medicare Part B
Premiums you pay for Medicare Part B are a medical expense. Check the information you received from the Social Security Administration to find out your premium.
Medicare Part D
You can include as a medical expense premiums you pay for Medicare Part D.
Personal Protective Equipment
You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for personal protective equipment, such as masks, hand sanitizer and hand sanitizing wipes, for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Prepaid Insurance Premiums
Premiums you pay before you are age 65 for insurance for medical care for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents after you reach age 65 are medical care expenses in the year paid if they are payable in equal yearly installments or more often and payable for at least 10 years, or until you reach age 65 (but not for less than 5 years).
Insurance Premiums You Can’t Include
You can’t include premiums you pay for life insurance policies, policies providing payment for loss of earnings, or coverage for nondependents (with some exceptions).
8.35 Intellectually and Developmentally Disabled, Special Home for
You can include in medical expenses the cost of keeping a person who is intellectually and developmentally disabled in a special home, not the home of a relative, on the recommendation of a psychiatrist to help the person adjust from life in a mental hospital to community living.
8.36 Laboratory Fees
You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for laboratory fees that are part of medical care.
8.37 Lactation Expenses
See Breast Pumps and Supplies, earlier.
8.38 Lead-Based Paint Removal
You can include in medical expenses the cost of removing lead-based paints from surfaces in your home to prevent a child who has or had lead poisoning from eating the paint.
8.39 Legal Fees
You can include in medical expenses legal fees you paid that are necessary to authorize treatment for mental illness.
8.40 Lifetime Care—Advance Payments
You can include in medical expenses a part of a life-care fee or “founder’s fee” you pay either monthly or as a lump sum under an agreement with a retirement home. The part of the payment you include is the amount properly allocable to medical care.
8.41 Lodging
You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals and lodging at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to receive medical care. You may be able to include the cost of lodging not provided in a hospital or similar institution if specific requirements are met, such as the lodging being primarily for and essential to medical care, the medical care being provided by a doctor in a licensed hospital, and the lodging not being lavish or extravagant.
8.42 Long-Term Care
You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and certain amounts of premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts.
8.43 Meals
You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care.
8.44 Medical Conferences
You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for admission and transportation to a medical conference if the medical conference concerns the chronic illness of yourself, your spouse, or your dependent.
8.45 Medicines
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for prescribed medicines and drugs. A prescribed drug is one that requires a prescription by a doctor for its use by an individual. You can also include amounts you pay for insulin. Except for insulin, you can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a drug that isn’t prescribed.
8.46 Nursing Home
You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical care in a nursing home, home for the aged, or similar institution, for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. This includes the cost of meals and lodging in the home if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care.
8.47 Nursing Services
You can include in medical expenses wages and other amounts you pay for nursing services. The services need not be performed by a nurse as long as the services are of a kind generally performed by a nurse. This includes services connected with caring for the patient’s condition, such as giving medication or changing dressings, as well as bathing and grooming the patient.
8.48 Operations
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for legal operations that aren’t for cosmetic surgery.
8.49 Optometrist
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to an optometrist for medical care.
8.50 Organ Donors
You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for medical care you receive because you are a donor or a possible donor of a kidney or other organ.
8.51 Osteopath
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to an osteopath for medical care.
8.52 Oxygen
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for oxygen and oxygen equipment to relieve breathing problems caused by a medical condition.
8.53 Physical Examination
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for an annual physical examination and diagnostic tests by a physician. You don’t have to be ill at the time of the examination.
8.54 Pregnancy Test Kit
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay to purchase a pregnancy test kit to determine if you are pregnant.
8.55 Premium Tax Credit
You can’t include in medical expenses the amount of health insurance premiums paid by or through the premium tax credit.
8.56 Psychiatric Care
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for psychiatric care, including the cost of supporting a mentally ill dependent at a specially equipped medical center.
8.57 Psychoanalysis
You can include in medical expenses payments for psychoanalysis. However, you can’t include payments for psychoanalysis that is part of required training to be a psychoanalyst.
8.58 Psychologist
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to a psychologist for medical care.
8.59 Special Education
You can include in medical expenses fees you pay on a doctor’s recommendation for a child’s tutoring by a teacher who is specially trained and qualified to work with children who have learning disabilities caused by mental or physical impairments, including nervous system disorders.
8.60 Sterilization
You can include in medical expenses the cost of a legal sterilization.
8.61 Stop-Smoking Programs
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a program to stop smoking.
8.62 Therapy
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for therapy received as medical treatment.
8.63 Transplants
You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for medical care you receive because you are a donor or a possible donor of a kidney or other organ.
8.64 Transportation
You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care.
8.65 Trips
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for transportation to another city if the trip is primarily for, and essential to, receiving medical services.
8.66 Tuition
Under special circumstances, you can include charges for tuition in medical expenses.
8.67 Vasectomy
You can include in medical expenses the amount you pay for a vasectomy.
8.68 Vision Correction Surgery
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for eye surgery to treat defective vision, such as laser eye surgery.
8.69 Weight-Loss Program
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to lose weight if it is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease).
8.70 Wheelchair
You can include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for a wheelchair used for the relief of a sickness or disability. The cost of operating and maintaining the wheelchair is also a medical expense.
8.71 Wig
You can include in medical expenses the cost of a wig purchased upon the advice of a physician for the mental health of a patient who has lost all of their hair from disease.
8.72 X-ray
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for X-rays for medical reasons.
This detailed list should help you comprehensively assess your medical expenses for potential tax deductions.
9. What Medical Expenses Are Not Includible?
Certain expenses do not qualify for the medical expense deduction. Some key exclusions include:
9.1 Baby Sitting, Childcare, and Nursing Services for a Normal, Healthy Baby
You can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for the care of children, even if the expenses enable you, your spouse, or your dependent to get medical or dental treatment.
9.2 Cosmetic Surgery
Generally, you can’t include in medical expenses the amount you pay for cosmetic surgery unless it is necessary to improve a deformity arising from, or directly related to, a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease.
9.3 Dancing Lessons
You can’t include in medical expenses the cost of dancing lessons, swimming lessons, etc., even if they are recommended by a doctor, if they are only for the improvement of general health.
9.4 Electrolysis or Hair Removal
See Cosmetic Surgery, earlier.
9.5 Funeral Expenses
You can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for funerals.
9.6 Health Club Dues
You can’t include in medical expenses health club dues or amounts paid to improve one’s general health or to relieve physical or mental discomfort not related to a particular medical condition.
9.7 Household Help
You can’t include in medical expenses the cost of household help, even if such help is recommended by a doctor.
9.8 Illegal Operations and Treatments
You can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for illegal operations, treatments, or controlled substances whether rendered or prescribed by licensed or unlicensed practitioners.
9.9 Maternity Clothes
You can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for maternity clothes.
9.10 Medicines and Drugs From Other Countries
In general, you can’t include in your medical expenses the cost of a prescribed drug brought in (or ordered and shipped) from another country. You can only include the cost of a drug that was imported legally.
9.11 Nonprescription Drugs and Medicines
Except for insulin, you can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a drug that isn’t prescribed.
9.12 Nutritional Supplements
You can’t include in medical expenses the cost of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements, “natural medicines,” etc., unless they are recommended by a medical practitioner as treatment for a specific medical condition diagnosed by a physician.
9.13 Surrogacy Expenses
You can’t include in medical expenses the amounts you pay for the identification, retention, compensation, and medical care of a gestational surrogate because they are paid for an unrelated party who is not you, your spouse, or your dependent.
9.14 Teeth Whitening
You can’t include in medical expenses amounts paid to whiten teeth.
9.15 Weight-Loss Program
You can’t include in medical expenses the cost of a weight-loss program if the purpose of the weight loss is the improvement of appearance, general health, or sense of well-being.
Understanding these exclusions will help you avoid miscalculations and ensure accurate tax reporting.
10. How Do You Treat Reimbursements?
You can include in medical expenses only those amounts paid during the tax year for which you received no insurance or other reimbursement. This applies to any reimbursements you receive from insurance or other sources during the year, including payments from Medicare.
10.1 What if Your Insurance Reimbursement Is More Than Your Medical Expenses?
If you are reimbursed more than your medical expenses, you may have to include the excess in income. The taxability depends on who paid the premiums.
- If you paid the entire premium, the excess reimbursement is generally not included in your gross income.
- If both you and your employer contributed to your medical insurance plan, you must include in your gross income the part of your excess reimbursement that is from your employer’s contribution.
- If your employer or your former employer pays the total cost of your medical insurance plan, you must report all of your excess reimbursement as other income.
10.2 What if You Receive Insurance Reimbursement in a Later Year?
If you are reimbursed in a later year for medical expenses you deducted in an earlier year, you must generally report the reimbursement as income up to the amount you previously deducted as medical expenses.
10.3 What if You Are Reimbursed for Medical Expenses You Didn’t Deduct?
If you didn’t deduct a medical expense in the year you paid it because your medical expenses weren’t more than 7.5% of your AGI or because you didn’t itemize deductions, don’t include the reimbursement, up to the amount of the expense, in income.
Proper accounting for reimbursements is crucial for accurate tax filing and maximizing your deductions.
FAQ: Medical Expense Deductions
Here’s a list of frequently asked questions to help you understand medical expense deductions:
- Can I deduct the cost of over-the-counter medications?
- No, unless prescribed by a doctor.
- Are cosmetic surgery expenses deductible?
- Only if the surgery is to correct a deformity related to a congenital abnormality, injury, or disease.
- Can I include the cost of transportation to medical appointments?
- Yes, including bus, taxi, train, or plane fares, as well as car expenses.
- What if I have a health savings account (HSA)?
- You can’t include amounts you contribute to an HSA or expenses you pay for with a tax-free distribution from your HSA.
- Can I deduct the cost of long-term care insurance premiums?
- Yes, subject to certain age-based limits.
- What if I receive a settlement for a personal injury?
- If part of the settlement is for medical expenses you deducted in an earlier year, you must include that part in your income in the year you receive it.
- Can I deduct the cost of a weight-loss program?
- Yes, if it is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease).
- Are health insurance premiums deductible?
- Yes, you can include in medical expenses insurance premiums you pay for policies that cover medical care.
- Can I deduct the cost of medical marijuana?
- No, as it is still illegal under federal law.
- Where do I report my medical expense deductions?
- You report your medical expense deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).
Understanding these FAQs can help you navigate the complexities of medical expense deductions with greater confidence.
Navigating medical expense deductions can be complex, but with the right information and strategies, you can effectively reduce your
