Medical expenses for the 2017 tax year are deductible to the extent that they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), regardless of your age. Included…
- Acupuncture.
- Alcoholism and drug/nicotine addiction treatment programs.
- Capital expenditures for home improvements required to accommodate a disability. Examples: Elevators, ramps, modifications to cabinets.
- Chiropractic care.
- Closed-caption television decoder.
- Contact lenses.
- Cosmetic surgery necessary to ameliorate a deformity from a congenital abnormality, personal injury or disfiguring disease—not elective cosmetic surgery.
- Dental fees and dentures—not for cosmetic procedures, such as tooth whitening.
- Eye examinations.
- Eyeglasses.
- Health insurance premiums paid with after-tax dollars, including the cost of Medicare Part B and Part D coverage. Self-employed individuals may deduct 100% of their insurance premiums even if they do not itemize their deductions.
- Insulin and prescription drugs.
- Lodging (but not meals) not provided in a hospital while away from home primarily for, and essential to, medical care. Limited to $50 each per night for the patient and a companion.
- Nursing home care required because of a medical condition.
- Premiums paid for long-term-care insurance subject to limitations depending on the age of the taxpayer.
- Prescription contraceptives, legal abortions and vasectomies.
- Psychiatric treatment.
- Seeing aids for the blind, including expenses for Braille publications and guide dogs.
- Telephone equipment for the deaf.
- Transportation to and from hospitals or doctors’ offices. The automobile rate is 17 cents/mile, plus parking fees and tolls.
- Weight-loss programs for the obese.
- Wheelchairs or other special chairs for a disabled person.