Since hearing aids are medical devices, they may qualify for tax deductions based on an individual’s income for a given tax year. Before making any tax filing decisions, please consult a professional tax preparer.
Medical deductions exist to aid taxpayers facing significant medical costs in a tax year. Historically, the threshold for claiming a medical deduction was applied for medical costs exceeding 10% of the adjusted gross income for the tax year. In December of 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Acts (TCJA) was passed and lowered the medical deduction threshold from 10% to 7.5% for the 2017 and 2018 tax years. After tax year 2018, the threshold will return to 10% of adjusted gross income. As an example, if your 2017 adjusted gross income was $100,000, you may be eligible for medical deductions for medical costs that exceeded $7,500.
Below is a basic definition of medical expenses and a list of some of the accepted medical deductions from IRS.com:
Topic Number 502 – Medical and Dental Expenses
If you itemize your deductions for a taxable year on Form 1040, Schedule A, Itemized Deductions, you may be able to deduct expenses you paid that year for medical and dental care for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. You may deduct only the amount of your total medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Medical care expenses include payments for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease, or payments for treatments affecting any structure or function of the body.
Deductible medical expenses may include but aren’t limited to the following:
- Payments of fees to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nontraditional medical practitioners
- Payments for inpatient hospital care or residential nursing home care, if the availability of medical care is the principal reason for being in the nursing home, including the cost of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home.
- Payments for acupuncture treatments or inpatient treatment at a center for alcohol or drug addiction, for participation in a smoking-cessation program and for drugs to alleviate nicotine withdrawal that require a prescription
- Payments to participate in a weight-loss program for a specific disease or diseases diagnosed by a physician, including obesity, but not ordinarily payments for diet food items or the payment of health club dues
- Payments for insulin and payments for drugs that require a prescription
- Payments for false teeth, reading or prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, and for a guide dog or other service animal to assist a visually impaired or hearing disabled person, or a person with other physical disabilities
- Payments for transportation primarily for and essential to medical care that qualify as medical expenses, such as payments of the actual fare for a taxi, bus, train, ambulance, or for transportation by personal car, the amount of your actual out-of-pocket expenses such as for gas and oil, or the amount of the standard mileage rate for medical expenses, plus the cost of tolls and parking
In addition to the hearing aids themselves, other expenses like hearing aid batteries, supplies, and maintenance may also qualify as medical deductions. To claim these deductions, commit to keeping track of your itemized medical costs during the tax year and keep all receipts for those expenditures.
Please, call our office if you need a list of your costs with us for the 2017 tax year.
