I had a question from a reader about Medical Expenses, specifically, the age old general question, what qualifies as a medical expense?
First, you need to have enough deductions so that you can file with a Schedule A, Itemized Deductions. The medical expenses generally (at least for 2007) can only be deducted if they exceed 7.5% of the amount of Form 1040, line 38 (that is your adjusted gross income and the line number it appears on may vary from year to year depending on what changes are happening with tax law and tax forms).
You will want to look at Publication 502 that will explain in detail what you can and cannot deduct as a medical deduction. Some examples of valid medical deductions are doctor co-pays, medical insurance premiums, dental insurance premiums and long term care premiums (make sure you double check with Pub 502 to see if they are valid medical plans for coverages).
Prescription medicine and insulin are deductible.
Hospital visits where you are not reimbursed by an insurance carrier are deductible.
Lab work is deductible as well.
Medical treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.
Eyeglasses and eye exams.
Some items that are not deductible are:
Vitamins
Cost of diet food
Cosmetic Surgery
Vitamins, despite what anybody tells you are not medical expenses no matter how well they are working for you and keeping you alive. Same holds true for diet food or cosmetic surgery. Now, the one surgery that is deductible is if you were medically designnated as morbidly obese and you need the surgery to save your life because your weight problems were literally killing you. That has to be with documentation from an appropriate doctor and probably surgeon.
You would best check with your tax professional when in doubt. Depending on your vocation, there may be some items that may be deductible but you would have to look at how the deductions directly apply to your vocation and income.
Remember that the medical expenses of your wife and your dependents are added into the Schedule A as well. Just make sure that you hold onto your receipts for the hospital visits, the co-pays, the medicine, pharmaceuticals and whatnot. If there are special changes you need to do to your house to accomodate your medical condition, be sure to research that or have a tax pro look into it as well. There may be some deductions there as well.
Hope that talking about taking legitimate medical expenses makes you “feel better”!
Kim Greenblatt
You are reading about medical expenses in Kim Greenblatt’s blog, profitable.
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