---
title: Medical Expenses Deductions Checklist
description: Medical expense tax deduction checklist. A quick medical expense deduction checklist and tips for tax-time.
---

[Personalized Employee Benefits Resources | PeopleKeep ](https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog)

# [Medical Expenses Deductions Checklist](https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/medical-expenses-deductions-checklist)

 Written by [PeopleKeep Team](https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/author/peoplekeep) | April 17, 2014 at 6:00 PM

If you or your clients paid a lot for health care in the last year, many of those expenses could qualify as a deduction from your taxable income on Form 1040, Schedule A. Use this checklist to determine which medical expenses you can take as a deduction on your income tax return.

## Medical Expense Deduction Tips

- You have to itemize deductions to claim these expenses.
- Medical expenses are only deductible to the extent that they exceed 10% of your [Adjusted Gross Income](https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/adjusted-gross-income-vs-modified-agi) (AGI). If your AGI is $75,000, for example, the first $7,500 of qualified expenses (10% of $75,000) don’t really count for deduction purposes.
- However, if you're older than 65 years old there is a temporary exemption to the 10% rate. If you or your spouse are 65 years or older, or turned 65 during the tax year, you are allowed to deduct unreimbursed medical care expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. The threshold remains at 7.5% of AGI for those taxpayers until Dec. 31, 2016.

## Medical Expenses Deductions Checklist

The IRS offers a list for qualified medical expenses. We've included a partial list of qualified medical expenses below. For the complete list, see [IRS Publication 502](https://www.peoplekeep.com/irs-502-eligible-expense-tool).

- Acupuncture
- Air conditioner necessary for relief from allergies or other respiratory problems (less any increase in the value of your home resulting from the installation of air conditioning)
- Alcoholism treatment, including inpatient treatment, meals, and lodging at a therapeutic center for alcohol addiction
- Artificial limbs
- Artificial teeth
- Birth control pills prescribed by a doctor
- Braille books and magazines used by a visually impaired person
- Contact lenses, including equipment and materials for using contacts
- Doctor or physician expenses
- Drug addiction treatment, including in-patient treatment, meals, and lodging at a therapeutic center for drug addiction
- Elastic hosiery to treat blood circulation problems
- Exercise program if a doctor has recommended it as treatment for a specific condition
- Eye surgery, such as Lasik or a similar procedure, when it is not for cosmetic purposes only
- Guide dog or other animal used by a visually-impaired, hearing-impaired, or otherwise physically disabled person
- Hospital care
- Household help for nursing care services only
- Insurance premiums for medical care coverage
- Laboratory fees
- Lead-based paint removal, including the cost of removing lead-based paints from surfaces when a child has lead poisoning or was previously diagnosed with lead poisoning. (Does not include the cost of repainting.)
- Legal fees paid to authorize treatment for mental illness
- Lifetime care advance payments
- Lodging expenses while away from home to receive medical care in a hospital or medical facility
- Long-term care insurance and long-term care expenses (there are limitations to what you can deduct)
- Mattresses and boards bought specifically to alleviate an arthritic condition
- Medical aids, including wheelchairs, hearing aids and batteries, eyeglasses, contact lenses, crutches, braces, and guide dogs (and their care)
- Medicines and drugs
- Nursing care
- Nursing home expenses, including the entire cost of medical care, plus meals and lodging if the main reason for being in the home is to obtain medical care
- Oxygen and oxygen equipment
- Special education tuition for sending a mentally impaired or physically disabled person to a special school that has resources to relieve the disability
- Smoking cessation programs (does not have to be recommended by a physician)
- Swimming (the cost of therapeutic swimming prescribed by a physician)
- Telephone (the cost and repair of special telephone equipment for a hearing-impaired person)
- Television (the cost of equipment used to display the audio part of a TV program for hearing-impaired persons)
- Transplant of an organ (but not hair transplants)
- Transportation costs for obtaining medical care
- Travel expenses for parents visiting their child in a special school for children with drug problems, where the visits are part of the medical treatment
- Weight loss program, if it is recommended by a doctor to treat a specific medical condition or to cure any specific ailment or disease
- Whirlpool baths prescribed by a doctor
- X-ray services

[View full post](https://www.peoplekeep.com/blog/medical-expenses-deductions-checklist)

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