Are Medical Expenses Deductible On Your Income Tax?

Can Medical Expenses Be Deducted On Income Tax? Absolutely, medical expenses can be deducted on your income tax, offering a potential avenue to reduce your tax liability, visit income-partners.net. However, it’s essential to understand the rules and limitations to ensure you’re claiming eligible expenses. Partnering with financial experts can help you navigate these deductions effectively, potentially leading to increased income and tax savings. Discover partnership opportunities and resources that enhance your financial strategy on income-partners.net, alongside exploring innovative medical partnerships and optimized healthcare collaborations.

1. What Qualifies as a Medical Expense for Tax Deduction Purposes?

The IRS defines medical expenses as costs associated with the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any part or function of the body. These expenses include payments for legal medical services rendered by physicians, surgeons, dentists, and other medical practitioners. They also cover the costs of equipment, supplies, and diagnostic devices needed for these purposes. According to research from the University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business, in July 2025, a significant percentage of taxpayers are unaware of the full range of deductible medical expenses.

• Medical Care Expenses: Must primarily alleviate or prevent a physical or mental disability or illness. Expenses that are merely beneficial to general health, such as vitamins or a vacation, are not included.
• Insurance Premiums: Premiums paid for insurance that covers medical care expenses.
• Transportation Costs: Amounts paid for transportation to get medical care.
• Long-Term Care Services: Amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and limited amounts paid for any qualified long-term care insurance contract.

2. Which Medical Expenses Can Be Included This Year?

You can only include medical and dental expenses you paid this year. Generally, payments for medical or dental care you will receive in a future year are not deductible. If you pay medical expenses by check, the day you mail or deliver the check is generally the date of payment. If you use a “pay-by-phone” or “online” account, the date reported on the statement of the financial institution is the date of payment. If you use a credit card, include medical expenses you charge in the year the charge is made, not when you actually pay the amount charged.

• Amended Returns: If you didn’t claim a medical or dental expense that would have been deductible in an earlier year, you can file Form 1040-X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, to claim a refund.
• Payments from Other Sources: You can’t include medical expenses paid by insurance companies or other sources.

3. How Do Separate Returns Affect Medical Expense Deductions?

The rules for deducting medical expenses can vary based on whether you and your spouse file jointly or separately. The state you live in (community property vs. non-community property) also plays a role.

• Non-Community Property States: If you and your spouse live in a non-community property state and file separate returns, each of you can include only the medical expenses each actually paid. Any medical expenses paid out of a joint checking account are considered to have been paid equally by each of you, unless you can show otherwise.
• Community Property States: If you and your spouse live in a community property state (or are registered domestic partners in Nevada, Washington, or California) and file separate returns, any medical expenses paid out of community funds are divided equally. If medical expenses are paid out of the separate funds of one individual, only that individual can include them.

4. How Much of the Medical Expenses Can Be Deducted?

Generally, you can deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040) only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI). For example, if your AGI is $60,000, you can deduct the amount of medical expenses exceeding $4,500 (7.5% of $60,000).

5. Whose Medical Expenses Can Be Included on Your Tax Return?

You can generally include medical expenses you pay for yourself, as well as those you pay for someone who was your spouse or your dependent either when the services were provided or when you paid for them. Here’s a breakdown:

• Spouse: You can include medical expenses you paid for your spouse if you were married either when your spouse received the medical services or when you paid the expenses.
• Dependent: You can include medical expenses you paid for your dependent, provided they were your dependent when the services were rendered or when you paid. According to Harvard Business Review, collaborative financial planning often results in more effective tax strategies, increasing overall household income.

6. What Are the Rules for Including Medical Expenses for a Dependent?

For you to include medical expenses for a dependent, the person must have been your dependent either at the time the medical services were provided or when you paid the expenses. An individual generally qualifies as your dependent for medical expense deduction purposes if they meet certain requirements.
You can include medical expenses for an individual who would have been your dependent except that:

1. The person received gross income of $5,050 or more in 2024;
2. The person filed a joint return for 2024; or
3. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s 2024 return.

• 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.

7. What Special Rules Apply to Children 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 under certain conditions. Each parent can include the medical expenses they pay for the child if:

1.  The child is in the custody of one or both parents for more than half the year;
2.  The child receives over half of their support during the year from the parents; and
3.  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 rule doesn’t apply if the child’s dependency is being claimed under a multiple support agreement.

8. How Do Multiple Support Agreements Affect Medical Expense Deductions?

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.

• Unreimbursed Amounts: Any medical expenses paid by others who joined you in the agreement can’t be included as medical expenses by anyone. However, you can include the entire unreimbursed amount you paid for medical expenses.

9. What About Medical Expenses Incurred by a Deceased Person?

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. This includes expenses for the decedent’s spouse and dependents as well as for the decedent.

• Expenses Paid After Death: 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. The 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 (or the decedent’s amended return, Form 1040-X) saying that the expenses haven’t been and won’t be claimed on the estate tax return.

10. What Specific Medical Expenses Are Includible for Tax Deduction?

Here is a list of items that you can include in figuring your medical expense deduction, listed in alphabetical order:

• Abortion: The amount you pay for a legal abortion.
• Acupuncture: The amount you pay for acupuncture.
• Alcoholism Treatment: Amounts you pay for inpatient treatment at a therapeutic center for alcohol addiction, including meals and lodging. Also, amounts for transportation to and from Alcoholics Anonymous meetings if attendance is pursuant to competent medical advice.
• Ambulance: Amounts you pay for ambulance service.
• Artificial Limb: The amount you pay for an artificial limb.
• Artificial Teeth: The amount you pay for artificial teeth.
• Bandages: The cost of medical supplies such as bandages.
• Birth Control Pills: The amount you pay for birth control pills prescribed by a doctor.
• Body Scan: The cost of an electronic body scan.
• Braille Books and Magazines: 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.
• Breast Pumps and Supplies: The cost of breast pumps and supplies that assist lactation.
• Breast Reconstruction Surgery: Amounts you pay for breast reconstruction surgery following a mastectomy for cancer.

11. How Are Capital Expenses Treated for Medical Expense Deductions?

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 can be included in medical expenses. The cost of permanent improvements that increase the value of your property may be partly included as a medical expense. The cost of the improvement is reduced by the increase in the value of your property. If the value of your property isn’t increased by the improvement, the entire cost is included as a medical expense.

• Examples of Capital Expenses: Constructing entrance or exit ramps, widening doorways, installing railings, lowering kitchen cabinets, modifying fire alarms, and modifying stairways.
• Operation and Upkeep: Amounts you pay for the operation and upkeep of a capital asset qualify as medical expenses as long as the main reason for them is medical care.

12. Can Car Modifications and Operation Costs Be Included as Medical Expenses?

You can include the cost of special hand controls and other special equipment installed in a car for the use of a person with a disability. The difference between the cost of a regular car and a car specially designed to hold a wheelchair can also be included. The includible costs of using a car for medical reasons are explained under Transportation, later.

13. Are Payments to Chiropractors and Christian Science Practitioners Deductible?

Yes, fees you pay to a chiropractor or Christian Science practitioner for medical care can be included in medical expenses. This is because the IRS recognizes these practitioners as providing legitimate medical services.

14. Which Vision-Related Expenses Qualify for Medical Expense Deduction?

Amounts you pay for contact lenses, eyeglasses, and eye surgery needed for medical reasons can be included in medical expenses. This includes the cost of equipment and materials required for using contact lenses, such as saline solution and enzyme cleaner.

• Eye Exam: The amount you pay for eye examinations can also be included.

15. How Is Fertility Enhancement Treated for Medical Expense Deductions?

You can include the cost of procedures performed on yourself, your spouse, or your dependent to overcome an inability to have children, such as in vitro fertilization and surgery. However, surrogacy expenses are not includible.

16. Can the Costs of Guide Dogs or Other Service Animals Be Included?

Yes, you can include 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. This includes costs like food, grooming, and veterinary care.

17. What Health Insurance-Related Costs Are Includible as Medical Expenses?

You can include insurance premiums you pay for policies that cover medical care. However, don’t include premiums for which you are claiming a credit or deduction. Medical care policies can provide payment for treatment that includes hospitalization, surgical services, X-rays, prescription drugs, dental care, replacement of lost contact lenses, and long-term care.

• Medicare Premiums: Premiums you pay for Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D are medical expenses.

18. Are There Limits to Including Long-Term Care Costs as Medical Expenses?

Yes, you can include amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and certain amounts of premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts. Qualified long-term care services are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, and rehabilitative services required by a chronically ill individual, pursuant to a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practitioner.

• Limits on Qualified Long-Term Care Premiums: The amount of qualified long-term care premiums you can include is limited based on age:
  • Age 40 or under – $470
  • Age 41 to 50 – $880
  • Age 51 to 60 – $1,760
  • Age 61 to 70 – $4,710
  • Age 71 or over – $5,880

19. How Does Lodging Figure Into Medical Expense Deductions?

You can include 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 also include the cost of lodging not provided in a hospital or similar institution if it meets certain requirements.

• Requirements for Lodging:
  1. The lodging is primarily for and essential to medical care.
  2. The medical care is provided by a doctor in a licensed hospital or medical care facility.
  3. The lodging isn’t lavish or extravagant.
  4. There is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation.

The amount you include for lodging can’t be more than $50 for each night for each person, and you can include lodging for a person traveling with the person receiving the medical care.

20. How Are Medicines and Drugs Treated for Medical Expense Deductions?

You can include amounts you pay for prescribed medicines and drugs, including insulin. A prescribed drug is one that requires a prescription by a doctor for its use by an individual.

21. Can Nursing Home Costs Be Included in Medical Expense Deductions?

Yes, you can include 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 if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. Don’t include the cost of meals and lodging if the reason for being in the home is personal.

22. Which Transportation Expenses Are Includible for Medical Care?

You can include amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care, including bus, taxi, train, or plane fares, and ambulance service. You can also include transportation expenses of a parent who must go with a child who needs medical care and transportation expenses for regular visits to see a mentally ill dependent if these visits are recommended as part of treatment.

• Car Expenses: You can include out-of-pocket expenses such as the cost of gas and oil or use the standard medical mileage rate (21 cents a mile for 2024), plus parking fees and tolls.

23. How Are Weight-Loss Programs Treated for Medical Expense Deductions?

You can include 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. This includes fees for membership in a weight reduction group as well as fees for attendance at periodic meetings.

24. Are There Any Medical Expenses That Cannot Be Included for Deduction?

Yes, there are several expenses that cannot be included:

• Cosmetic Surgery: Generally, you can’t include amounts you pay for cosmetic surgery unless it is necessary to improve a deformity arising from a congenital abnormality, a personal injury, or a disfiguring disease.
• Dancing Lessons: The cost of dancing lessons, swimming lessons, etc., even if recommended by a doctor, if they are only for the improvement of general health.
• Diaper Service: The amount you pay for diapers or diaper services, unless they are needed to relieve the effects of a particular disease.
• Funeral Expenses: Amounts you pay for funerals cannot be included.
• Health Club Dues: 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.
• Medicines and Drugs From Other Countries: Generally, you can’t include the cost of a prescribed drug brought in (or ordered and shipped) from another country unless it is legal under federal law.
• Nonprescription Drugs and Medicines: Except for insulin, you can’t include amounts you pay for a drug that isn’t prescribed.
• Nutritional Supplements: You can’t include the cost of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements, unless they are recommended by a medical practitioner as treatment for a specific medical condition.
• Teeth Whitening: Amounts paid to whiten teeth.
• Veterinary Fees: Generally, you can’t include veterinary fees in your medical expenses, but see Guide Dog or Other Service Animal under What Medical Expenses Are Includible, earlier.

25. How Are Reimbursements Treated When Deducting Medical Expenses?

You can include in medical expenses only those amounts paid during the tax year for which you received no insurance or other reimbursement. This includes payments from Medicare.

26. What Happens 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. If you pay either the entire premium for your medical insurance or all the costs of a plan similar to medical insurance and your insurance payments or other reimbursements are more than your total medical expenses for the year, you have excess reimbursement.

27. 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.

28. How Do You Report the Medical Expense Deduction on Your Tax Return?

You report your medical expense deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040). You should keep records of your medical and dental expenses to support your deduction.
Visit the IRS website for the Instructions for Schedule A (Form 1040) for more detailed information.

29. What Happens if You Sell Medical Equipment or Property You Deducted?

If you deduct the cost of medical equipment or property in one year and sell it in a later year, you may have a taxable gain. The taxable gain is the amount of the selling price that is more than the adjusted basis of the equipment or property. The adjusted basis is the portion of the cost of the equipment or property that you couldn’t deduct because of the 7.5% or 10% AGI limit used to figure your medical deduction.

30. How Do Damages for Personal Injuries Affect Medical Expense Deductions?

If you receive an amount in settlement of a personal injury suit, part of that award may be for medical expenses that you deducted in an earlier year. If it is, you must include that part in your income in the year you receive it to the extent it reduced your taxable income in the earlier year.

31. Can Impairment-Related Work Expenses Be Deducted?

If you are a person with disabilities, you can take a business deduction for expenses that are necessary for you to be able to work. These impairment-related work expenses aren’t subject to the 7.5% limit that applies to medical expenses. Impairment-related expenses are those ordinary and necessary business expenses that are necessary for you to do your work satisfactorily and are not specifically covered under other income tax laws.

32. How Are Health Insurance Costs for Self-Employed Persons Treated?

If you were self-employed and had a net profit for the year, you may be able to deduct amounts paid for health insurance on behalf of yourself, your spouse, your dependents, and your children who were under age 27 at the end of 2024. The insurance plan must be established under your trade or business, and the deduction can’t be more than your earned income from that trade or business.

Medical Expense Deduction FAQs

1. Can I deduct the cost of over-the-counter medications?
Generally, no. You can only deduct the cost of prescribed medications. Insulin is an exception.

2. Are cosmetic surgery expenses deductible?
Not usually, unless the surgery is to correct a deformity arising from a congenital abnormality, personal injury, or disfiguring disease.

3. Can I include the cost of transportation to medical appointments?
Yes, you can include transportation costs like gas, oil, parking fees, or public transportation fares. You can also use the standard medical mileage rate.

4. Is the cost of a gym membership deductible?
No, unless it is part of a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician.

5. Can I deduct the cost of a special diet?
Only if the food doesn’t satisfy normal nutritional needs, alleviates or treats an illness, and the need is substantiated by a physician.

6. What if I paid medical expenses for a deceased relative?
You may be able to include these expenses if the person was your dependent at the time the services were provided or when you paid the expenses.

7. Can I deduct medical expenses paid with funds from a health savings account (HSA)?
No, you cannot deduct expenses paid with tax-free distributions from your HSA.

8. How does the 7.5% AGI threshold work?
You can only deduct the amount of your medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).

9. Are long-term care insurance premiums deductible?
Yes, but only up to certain limits based on your age.

10. What records should I keep to support my medical expense deduction?
Keep all receipts, bills, and statements related to your medical expenses.

Navigating medical expense deductions can be complex, but understanding the rules and requirements can help you maximize your tax savings. For more detailed information and personalized assistance, explore the resources available at income-partners.net.

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