Medical Expenses Tax Deduction

Medical expenses over a certain amount become tax deductible items, saving you money when you need it most.


This page:

  • Briefly describes medical tax deductions

  • Lists criteria for claiming these itemized tax deductions

  • Explains how to claim medical tax deductions

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Deducting your high medical expenses at tax time

Annual medical expenses for you, your spouse, and your children often end up costing you a bundle. Even with the help of health insurance, medical bills can reach into the thousands.

Add to that the cost of your insurance deductibles and your co-payments and the result may be a frighteningly large number.

Luckily, if you fit this description, you can find relief in medical tax deductions.

How to include medical expenses in your itemized tax deductions

The IRS allows you to count medical expenses exceeding 7.5% of your adjusted gross income in your itemized tax deductions.

By using this cutoff point, the IRS prevents taxpayers with large salaries from claiming expenses they can certainly afford as tax deductible items, while benefiting taxpayers who are burdened by unforeseen medical costs.

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What medical expenses are tax deductible items?
The list of medical and dental expenses that can be included in your itemized tax deductions is pretty straightforward. Ordinary costs for which you have not been reimbursed are typically considered tax deductible items.

Any medical procedure - including surgery, doctor visits, tests, and therapy - that is medically necessary for restoration of health is tax deductible. Anything cosmetic, uncommon, or voluntary is generally not.

Here's a partial list of common expenses considered to be medical tax deductions:

  • Medical insurance premiums (not all)
  • Laser eye surgery
  • Medicines
  • Dental treatment
  • Eyeglasses

Click here to see the whole list of medical expenses that can be claimed as itemized tax deductions.

You cannot, however, count expenses which are voluntary in nature as tax deductible items. For example:

  • Funeral expenses
  • Maternity clothes
  • Controlled substances (?)
  • Cosmetic surgery

Click here for the whole list of medical expenses that cannot be claimed as itemized tax deductions.

How to claim medical tax deductions

Once you've totaled your medical expenses for the year, fill out the appropriate form in your tax return.

If you include medical expenses in your itemized tax deductions, make sure to save your medical bills and payment statements as proof. Also, do not forget that reimbursed amounts are not permitted as medical tax deductions. You should reduce your medical itemized tax deductions by any reimbursement amount.

If you are filing a paper return, you must file form 1040 when claiming any medical tax deductions. The total expenses are entered on Schedule A, which you attach to your return. Or you can start free online, tax returns and forms are completed for you automatically when you efile.

Related IRS publications

You can get more information about dental and medical tax deductions directly from the IRS, in the form of IRS Publication 502.

If you file a paper tax return, you need to enter the total of your tax deductible items on your Schedule A. If you e-file, this will be done for you electronically.

Note: you will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these publications, which you can get here. (But you probably already have it.)