Orlando Harmon
Medical expenses can be a financial burden, especially if you don't have insurance. However, it's important to know that you may be able to write off some of these costs when filing your taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows you to deduct certain unreimbursed, qualified medical and dental expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). This includes costs for health insurance premiums, hospital stays, doctor appointments, prescription medications, and alternative treatments like acupuncture. Additionally, transportation costs to and from medical care, such as mileage on your car, bus fare, and parking fees, may also be deductible. It's always a good idea to keep your receipts and itemize your deductions to determine if you can benefit from these tax deductions.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Medical Expenses Deduction Eligibility | Depends on the cost of medical expenses and adjusted gross income (AGI) |
| Deduction Criteria | Unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of AGI |
| Itemized Deduction Criteria | Total itemized deductions must be greater than the Standard Deduction |
| Deductible Expenses | Doctor's fees, inpatient hospital care, prescription drugs, medical equipment, travel expenses, etc. |
| Non-Deductible Expenses | Cosmetic procedures, non-prescription drugs, vitamins, health club dues, etc. |
| Self-Employed Deduction | Health insurance premiums, if eligible |
| Retired Public Safety Officers | Cannot include health or long-term care insurance premiums as expenses |
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What You'll Learn
Deducting medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI)
To deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), you must itemize your deductions on IRS Schedule A. This means that you need to list your deductions individually on Form 1040, Schedule A, Itemized Deductions. You can only deduct unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI.
The IRS allows you to deduct unreimbursed payments for preventative care, treatment, surgeries, dental and vision care, visits to psychologists and psychiatrists, prescription medications, appliances such as glasses, contacts, false teeth and hearing aids, and expenses that you pay to travel for qualified medical care.
Some of the lesser-known deductible medical expenses include acupuncture, addiction treatment, braille publications, chiropractic services for medical care, contact lenses, diet food, exercise programs, and health, dental and vision insurance premiums.
It's important to note that the deduction value for medical expenses varies because the amount changes based on your income. For example, if you have an AGI of $45,000 and $5,475 of medical expenses, you would multiply $45,000 by 0.075 (7.5%) to find that only expenses exceeding $3,375 can be included as an itemized deduction. This calculation leaves you with a medical expense deduction of $2,100 ($5,475 minus $3,375).
Additionally, if you are self-employed and have a net profit for the year, you may be eligible for the self-employed health insurance deduction. This is an adjustment to income rather than an itemized deduction for premiums paid on a health insurance policy covering medical care for yourself, your spouse, and dependents.
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Deducting unreimbursed expenses for preventative care, treatment, and surgeries
The IRS allows you to deduct unreimbursed payments for preventative care, treatment, surgeries, dental and vision care, visits to psychologists and psychiatrists, prescription medications, appliances such as glasses, contacts, false teeth and hearing aids, and expenses that you pay to travel for qualified medical care.
You can deduct unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For example, if your AGI is $50,000, the first $3,750 of qualified expenses (7.5% of $50,000) don't count. If you had $5,000 of unreimbursed medical expenses in 2024, you would only be able to deduct $1,250 on Schedule A.
Some of the deductible medical expenses include:
- Acupuncture
- Addiction treatment
- Braille publications
- Chiropractic services for medical care
- Contact lenses
- Diet food
- Exercise programs
- Health, dental and vision insurance premiums
- Cosmetic surgery, if necessary to improve a deformity related to a congenital abnormality, accident or disease
- Dental treatment for the prevention and alleviation of dental disease
- Fertility treatments, including in vitro fertilization, surgery and temporary storage of eggs or sperm
- Gender-affirming care such as hormone therapy and surgery for transgender individuals
- Guide dog or another service animal for a person with low vision or hearing
- Medical conference admission costs and travel expenses for a person with a chronic illness to learn about new medical treatments
- Fees to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nontraditional medical practitioners
- Inpatient hospital care or residential nursing home care, if the availability of medical care is the primary reason for being in the nursing home, including the cost of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home
- Amounts paid for transportation to get medical care, including out-of-pocket expenses for your personal car such as gas and oil, or the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, plus the cost of tolls and parking; taxi, bus, or train fare; and ambulance costs
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Deducting medical travel expenses
If you are travelling to another city for medical care, you may be able to include up to $50 for each night of lodging per person. This can also include lodging for someone travelling with the person receiving medical care, for example, if a parent is travelling with a sick child, up to $100 per night can be included as a medical expense. However, meals are not included in this deduction.
You can also deduct the cost of admission and transportation to a medical conference if the event is related to your, your spouse's, or your dependent's chronic illness. Most of the time spent at the conference must be for attending sessions on medical information.
It is important to note that you can only deduct unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). You must itemize your deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040 to be eligible for a medical expense deduction.
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Deducting health insurance premiums
If you're self-employed and have a net profit for the year, you may be eligible for the self-employed health insurance deduction. This is an adjustment to income, rather than an itemized deduction, for premiums paid on a health insurance policy covering medical care. This includes a qualified long-term care insurance policy for yourself, your spouse, and dependents. The policy can also cover your child, who is under the age of 27 at the end of the year, even if the child is not your dependent.
You can only claim the health insurance premiums write-off for months when neither you nor your spouse were eligible to participate in an employer-subsidized health plan. For example, if you were single and ineligible for any employer-provided health plan during the last six months of the year because you left your job and started your own business, you can claim the deduction for premiums paid for coverage during that six-month period.
The deduction cannot exceed the earned income you collect from your business. For example, if your self-employment activity is a sole proprietorship that generated a tax loss for the year, you're not allowed to claim the deduction because the business didn't generate any positive earned income. If you're a business partner or LLC member treated as a partner for tax purposes, you can deduct the health insurance premiums you pay directly.
If the partnership or LLC pays the premiums, you can still claim the deduction for premiums paid for your coverage by following special rules. Partners and LLC members who are treated as partners for tax purposes are considered self-employed. If you fit into this category and directly pay your own health insurance premiums, you can claim the deduction. If your business has employees and you pay health insurance premiums for them, these amounts are deducted on the applicable tax form and line for employee benefit program expenses. For example, if your business is a sole proprietorship, you deduct premiums paid to provide health coverage to employees on Schedule C.
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Deducting medical expenses for your spouse or dependent
If you itemize your deductions for a taxable year on Schedule A (Form 1040), you may be able to deduct the medical and dental expenses you paid for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents during the taxable year. However, these expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income for the year to qualify.
The deduction only applies to expenses not compensated by insurance or other means, regardless of whether you receive the reimbursement directly or payment is made on your behalf to the doctor, hospital, or other medical provider. You can figure out the amount you're allowed to deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040).
For example, if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is $50,000, the first $3,750 of qualified expenses (7.5% of $50,000) don't count. If you had $5,000 of unreimbursed medical expenses in that year, you would only be able to deduct $1,250 on Schedule A.
Some deductible medical expenses include:
- Acupuncture
- Addiction treatment
- Braille publications
- Chiropractic services for medical care
- Contact lenses
- Diet food
- Exercise programs
- Health, dental and vision insurance premiums
- Amounts paid for transportation, including out-of-pocket expenses for your personal car, such as gas and oil, or the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, plus the cost of tolls and parking
- Amounts paid for insurance premiums to cover medical care or qualified long-term care
- Amounts paid for inpatient hospital care or residential nursing home care, if the availability of medical care is the principal reason for being in the nursing home, including the cost of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home
- Amounts paid for a hearing aid and batteries, repairs, and maintenance needed to operate it
- Amounts paid for inpatient treatment at a center for alcohol or drug addiction
- Amounts paid for participation in a smoking-cessation program and for prescription drugs to alleviate nicotine withdrawal
- Amounts paid for admission and transportation to a medical conference relating to a chronic illness of you, your spouse, or your dependent (if the costs are primarily for and essential to necessary medical care). However, you may not deduct the costs for meals and lodging while attending the medical conference.
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Frequently asked questions
You can write off unreimbursed expenses for preventative care, treatment, surgeries, and dental and vision care as qualifying medical expenses. You can also write off unreimbursed expenses for visits to psychologists and psychiatrists. Unreimbursed payments for prescription medications and appliances such as glasses, contacts, false teeth, and hearing aids are also deductible.
You can write off the expenses you pay to travel for medical care, such as mileage on your car, bus fare, and parking fees. If you drive your own car, the deduction is $0.21 per mile. You can also write off the cost of bus, taxi, train, plane tickets, and ambulance transportation.
You can write off health insurance premiums if they aren't deducted in pre-tax dollars from your paycheck. You can also write off insurance premiums paid by you and your employer. However, you can't deduct premiums paid by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan unless the premiums are included on your Form W-2.
