Track Your Medical Expenses, Save on Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows you to deduct medical expenses on your tax return — potentially saving you a significant amount in taxes. To get these savings, you must keep detailed records. Therefore, it’s never too soon to start planning for the April 17, 2018, tax deadline.
You can deduct medical expenses you paid for anyone who is listed on your tax return. You also may be able to include your parents, even if they aren’t technically dependents. The deductions must be more than 10 percent of your adjusted gross income, and you can only deduct the costs that exceed that amount.
Expenses that can be deducted include:
- Preventive care
- Surgeries
- Dental and vision care
- Visits to psychiatrists and psychologists
- Medical travel
- Long-term care insurance
- Uninsured medical treatments, such as eyeglasses or dentures
- Physician-ordered items, such as air conditioning to relieve breathing problems
- Medical conference costs if they center on a chronic illness you suffer from
- Medically necessary weight loss programs
- Special needs, such as a wheelchair, a guide dog or closed caption television.
According to the IRS, you’ll need the following records for each medical expense you list on your tax form:
- Name and address of every medical care provider you paid
- The amount and date of each payment.
Although you do not need to send these records with your returns, it’s helpful to keep them so you can show:
- A description of the medical service that was received
- Who received the care
- Nature and purpose of the medical expenses.
Remember: keeping up with the paperwork throughout 2017 will make filing in 2018 a lot less painful — particularly if the payoff is getting to keep your hard-earned dollars.
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