Has anyone been able to deduct surgeries from taxes?

[Jameson]

I'm wondering about the tax deductibility of surgeries like hysto or top surgery as a medical expense. Has anyone here tried it?

[ainsley]

I did it on my taxes this year.  I went through H&R Block and my preparer asked me if I had any, and I said heck yes!  The caveat is that you can only claim the amount that is more than 10% of your adjusted income.  So, say you made $50,000 and spent $7,000 on medical costs, then you can deduct $2000.

Tax Topics - Topic 502 Medical and Dental Expenses

IRS

If you itemize your deductions for a taxable year on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF), you may be able to deduct expenses you paid that year for medical and dental care for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. For years beginning after December 31, 2012, you may deduct only the amount of your total medical expenses that exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income or 7.5% if you or your spouse is 65 or older.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502.html

[mrs izzy]

I'm wondering about the tax deductibility of surgeries like hysto or top surgery as a medical expense. Has anyone here tried it?

The IRS final decision has now been changed to include medically necessary GCS.

Before you could but had to be inventive in the way the Doctor worded there receipts.

Where will it fit in your itemized deductions and health related are by a percentage and not dollar for dollar. You need to work the schedule.

[FTMax]

Get detailed receipts or invoices from your surgeon. And don't limit yourself to just surgical expenses. If you're paying for anything medically transition related, you should be able to deduct those as well once you've crossed that 10% threshold. With surgery, you shouldn't have any problem crossing that threshold.

[ainsley]

Get detailed receipts or invoices from your surgeon. And don't limit yourself to just surgical expenses.

Yes, my preparer at H&R Block said that I could even claim miles for each trip to the Dr.

[Bimmer Guy]

I'm wondering about the tax deductibility of surgeries like hysto or top surgery as a medical expense. Has anyone here tried it?

<sigh> 

Yes.

http://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/IRS_Factsheet_2012.pdf


(No worries, about the <sigh>, folks.  Jameson and I are buds, just teasing him.)

[Jameson]

Thanks for the information folks, I didn't know how it would be approached, I thought it might be looked at as "cosmetic" or not medically needed. Since my insurance doesn't cover it I wondered if there would be crossover that would get it disqualified as a deduction.

Hey ainsley, how about air travel! 

[Jameson]

<sigh> 

Yes.

http://transequality.org/sites/default/files/docs/resources/IRS_Factsheet_2012.pdf


(No worries, about the <sigh>, folks.  Jameson and I are buds, just teasing him.)

Hey Buddy, I thought you just did insurance translation! All kidding aside, how would that work with something like informed consent? They do seem to talk about "medically appropriate" care, and that top surgery specifically was a "some cases" situation not directly spelled out.  That's the kind of thing I'd want to find out for sure as part of the financial plan for doing it. I know I'll do it anyway, but it would be worth waiting a month or two if it would fall on a date that would save a chunk of change.

[ImagineKate]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that you also need to itemize your deductions to deduct medical expenses. So unless you have a mortgage with a lot of interest or other stuff where you itemize and come out better instead of taking the standard deduction, (or getting some really really really expensive surgery like $50k worth) you're not really gaining anything deducting medical expenses and may actually come out worse if you do itemized.

It's too late to do this for surgeries past but a HSA or FSA if offered by your employer may prove to be more tax advantageous for stuff you're planning in the future. Only catch is that with a FSA it's use it or lose it. I wish I knew that I was going to spend this much money on medical expenses this year when it was time for open enrollment. Sigh.

[Alexthecat]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that you also need to itemize your deductions to deduct medical expenses. So unless you have a mortgage with a lot of interest or other stuff where you itemize and come out better instead of taking the standard deduction, (or getting some really really really expensive surgery like $50k worth) you're not really gaining anything deducting medical expenses and may actually come out worse if you do itemized.

It's too late to do this for surgeries past but a HSA or FSA if offered by your employer may prove to be more tax advantageous for stuff you're planning in the future. Only catch is that with a FSA it's use it or lose it. I wish I knew that I was going to spend this much money on medical expenses this year when it was time for open enrollment. Sigh.

Or you could only make like 15k a year, my medical this year was almost 10k. Way past the threshold.

[FTMax]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that you also need to itemize your deductions to deduct medical expenses. So unless you have a mortgage with a lot of interest or other stuff where you itemize and come out better instead of taking the standard deduction, (or getting some really really really expensive surgery like $50k worth) you're not really gaining anything deducting medical expenses and may actually come out worse if you do itemized.

It's too late to do this for surgeries past but a HSA or FSA if offered by your employer may prove to be more tax advantageous for stuff you're planning in the future. Only catch is that with a FSA it's use it or lose it. I wish I knew that I was going to spend this much money on medical expenses this year when it was time for open enrollment. Sigh.

I'm not sure you *need* to itemize, but I was under the impression that once the complexity of your taxes moved beyond the two most common deductions (mortgage and student loan interest payments), you were strongly encouraged to itemize.

[ImagineKate]

I'm not sure you *need* to itemize, but I was under the impression that once the complexity of your taxes moved beyond the two most common deductions (mortgage and student loan interest payments), you were strongly encouraged to itemize.

You can either itemize or take the standard deduction. There is no requirement to take either.

However uness you have a lot of money in itemized deductions the standard deduction is going to be better. For singles it is $6200 for 2014 and married filing joint it is $12400.  So usually you itemize if your itemized deductions exceed that about.

And to deduct medical expenses you need to itemize.

But if you make little money and paid for expensive surgery out of pocket you're going to come out ahead with medical expense deduction.

[Nygeel]

I use tax softwear that does stuff for me. I always put in my medical expenses like hormones. In the US, SRS can be deducted.