Taxes

[ProteinSnob]

I started working on our taxes last week and realized that we will get to write off a lot of things surrounding surgery last year. It looks like even the travel expenses are included in that.

What about supplements? Does anyone have the definitive word on whether or not we are able to write those off (with a prescription)?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Yes. I have the word...and people have argued about this for YEARS...but here goes...

Stuff taken to TREAT A DIAGNOSED PROBLEM...such as malabsorption or specific deficiencies...is deductible. (Even if malabsorption was the goal of your bariatric surgery.)

Stuff taken to PREVENT something...like malnutrition...is NOT deductible.

I am fortunate enough that mostly I can't claim medical. But when I could, I did so armed with a note from my doctor (and I made him rewrite it because he didn't do it correctly the first time), saying that I need to take Vitamins (which would vary throughout the year based on what lab tests revealed about what nutrients were being malabsorbed) and Calcium and Magnesium and etc. We listed what I was taking at the time and kind of "maxed it out," and I was never challenged.

ALSO, back in the day, we had a Section (what was it? 125, maybe?) where we withheld money to go to an account (we don't have that because we are retired folk now) and then that plan administrator sent me checks when I submitted their forms. It took a while to get THEM to understand that IRS DID allow that deduction and therefore that reimbursement. But I found the IRS publications and bulletins that explained it and made ugly noises and it was all eventually allowed. (That allows you to pay for medical stuff with pre-tax dollars, even though you may not have medical that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income...which is what you need for a medical deduction. Higher earners will have to rely on that approach...if it still exists.)

The big huge difference is whether you are TREATING something--and you do have something to treat...malabsorption and the related deficiencies--or PREVENTING something...and IRS doesn't allow preventive measures any more than it allows a gym for "maintaining health."

So, there.


ETA: accommodations for YOU are limited to $50/night, I think...but accommodations for your caregiver are ALSO $50 a night. I think.

 

[Whit]

Lucky you. I could not write off anything surgery related for the very reason stated above!

and yes I am going to add something to every post! I just can not help it!

 

[Bradley]

Fcuk. We BOTH had our surgeries in 13 and still fell short of deducting anything.

Thanks Obama!

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Fcuk. We BOTH had our surgeries in 13 and still fell short of deducting anything.

Thanks Obama!

That rule has been in effect since way before Obama's first term.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Fcuk. We BOTH had our surgeries in 13 and still fell short of deducting anything.

Thanks Obama!

Come to think of it...any of us who make enough money that 7.5% of our agi is way more than we spend on medical are in a GOOD place, dontcha see?

Take two people who each spend $10,000 on medical in one year. One guy has an agi of $30,000, the other an agi of $150,000.

First guy can deduct $10,000 - [7.5% x 30,000] = $10,000 - 2250 = $7,750 deductible.
Second guy can deduct $10,000 - [7.5% x 150,000] = $10,000 - 11,250 = $0 deductible.

Not being able to deduct medical expenses is a RICH man's problem more than a poor man's problem.

So...maybe you WERE thanking Obama because you are in a relatively good position and I just misunderstood.