What Medical Expenses Are Tax Deductible in 2025?

Whether you have a chronic medical condition or a large family with routine medical expenses, you may have costs that are not reimbursed by your insurance provider. If this is the case, you may be looking to deduct some of these medical expenses from your taxes in the upcoming year. From time to time, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announces changes to the threshold amount that qualifies for deduction, so you may not get back what you expect. It’s important to keep good records and make sure you know what counts and what doesn’t.

Are Medical Expenses Tax Deductible?

Yes, medical expenses are tax deductible. The IRS allows you to deduct the medical and dental expenses paid for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents during the taxable year to the extent that these qualified medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income for the year. The deduction applies only to medical care expenses that have not been compensated by insurance or otherwise.

Glossary of Tax Terms

Adjusted gross income (AGI): Gross income reduced by certain amounts, such as a deductible IRA contribution or student loan interest.
Dependent: A qualifying child or qualifying relative, other than the taxpayer or spouse, who entitles the taxpayer to claim a dependency exemption.
Standard deduction: Reduces the income subject to tax and varies depending on filing status, age, blindness, and dependency.

How Do Medical Tax Deductions Work?

Taxpayers can deduct out-of-pocket expenses on medical care from their taxable income.
All taxpayers can deduct expenses incurred on medical care for themselves, their spouse, and their dependents during the taxable year.
The IRS allows every taxpayer to deduct unreimbursed qualified medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of the adjusted gross income.
- For example, if your adjusted gross income is $41,000 and your unreimbursed expenses for yourself and dependents are $7,000 for the year, you can calculate the amount that is deductible by using the following formula:

AGI x 0.075 = threshold for medical expenses for 2025 tax year

Enter the amounts as follows:

$41,000 x 0.075 = $3,075

Using this formula in this scenario, we find that only costs that exceed $3,075 are tax deductible. Since your unreimbursed medical expenses were $7,000, you know that only $3,925 (7,000 minus 3,075) is tax deductible. If, instead of $7,000, your medical expenses were a mere $3,000 for the year, you would not be able to deduct all of your unreimbursed medical expenses from your 2025 tax total because your costs do not reach the threshold.

Steps To Take for Deducting Medical Expenses

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to deduct unreimbursed medical expenses when you file your taxes:

Use IRS Form 1040 to file your taxes and attach Schedule A.
Enter your qualified expenses on medical care for the year on line 1.
Enter your adjusted gross income (from Form 1040) on line 2.
Enter 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) on line 3.
Enter the difference between your medical expenses and 7.5% of your AGI on line 4.
The balance amount on line 4 will be added to other itemized deductions and subtracted from your AGI to reduce your taxable income for the year.
If your medical expenses plus any other itemized deductions you are claiming are less than the Standard Deduction, you will be better off without itemizing.

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What Medical Bills Can You Claim on Taxes?

There is quite a bit that is tax deductible when it comes to medical expenses, but you must keep receipts, reports, and forms that prove the patient's cost. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) allows the following medical bills paid out-of-pocket to be deducted from your taxable income:

Practitioner Fees

Fees paid to doctors (primary care physicians and specialists).
Fees paid to surgeons.
Fees paid to dentists.
Fees paid to chiropractors.
Fees paid to psychiatrists and psychologists.
Fees paid to other medical practitioners, including nontraditional medical practitioners.
Cost of outpatient medical treatment.
Preventative care.
Diagnostic tests.

Medication Expenses

Prescription drugs.
Insulin and other prescribed diabetes medications.
Birth control pills prescribed by a physician.
Prescription drugs for nicotine withdrawal.

Dental and Vision Care Expenses

Fees paid to dentists.
Cost of dental treatment to alleviate dental disease.
Fees paid to optometrists and ophthalmologists.
Prescription eyeglasses and contact lenses.
Dental prosthetics (false teeth or dentures).
Hearing aids.

Inpatient Treatment

Surgeries and procedures.
Inpatient treatment for alcohol or drug addiction.
Inpatient hospital care or residential nursing home care. Medical care should be the main reason for the nursing home stay. The costs of meals and lodging charged by the hospital or nursing home count as qualified medical expenses. If medical care isn't the main reason for the nursing home stay, only the part that’s for medical care can be claimed as a deduction.

Insurance Premiums

Health insurance premiums for medical care.
Medical insurance or qualified long-term care.

Medical Equipment

Expenses incurred by people with mental or physical impairments, for example, guide dogs or other service animals for visually impaired and hearing disabled individuals or those with other physical disabilities.
Devices or equipment for people with physical or mental disability, for example, crutches or wheelchairs for people with physical disabilities.

Other Tax-Deductible Medical Expenses

Acupuncture treatments.
Smoking cessation programs.
Weight loss programs for a specific health condition diagnosed by a healthcare provider, such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease.
In some situations, health club dues are paid mainly for the prevention or treatment of obesity.
Travel for medical care, including mileage on your car, tolls, parking fee, taxi fare, bus or train fare, and ambulance costs.
Transportation costs to a medical conference that you’re attending related to a chronic illness in yourself, your spouse, or your dependent.
Some expenses towards general health, wellness, and nutrition.

What Expenses Are Not Allowed As Deductible Medical Expenses?

Qualified medical and dental expenses are not tax deductible in some situations, including:

Medical expenses reimbursed by your health insurance company or employer-sponsored health plan.
Medical expenses paid in a different tax year.
Medical expenses paid using money from a tax advantaged account such as a flexible spending account (FSA) or health savings account (HSA).

Medical Expenses That Are Not Tax Deductible

Some of the expenses that are not allowed as deductible medical expenses from your taxable income include:

Cosmetic surgery.
Non-prescription (over-the-counter) drugs and products, including non-prescription nicotine patches and gum.
General health and hygiene purchases, such as health club membership, dietary supplements, and vitamins, diet food, and toiletry items such as shampoo or toothpaste.

Is It Worth Claiming Medical Expenses On Taxes?

It is worth claiming medical expenses on taxes if you incur considerable out-of-pocket medical expenses during a tax year. In this case, you could save a considerable amount of money and reduce your taxable income for the year by thousands of dollars.

However, you need to keep meticulous records of unreimbursed (out-of-pocket) medical bills to claim them on your tax forms. Consequently, the effort may not be worth it for people who have a limited amount of medical expenses.

How To Calculate How Much You Can Get Back

For example, if your adjusted gross income is $55,000 and you have unreimbursed medical expenses of $4,200.

AGI x 0.075 = threshold for medical expenses for 2025 tax year

Enter the amounts as follows:

$55,000 x 0.075 = $4,125

In this scenario, we find that only costs that exceed $4,125 are tax deductible. Since your unreimbursed medical expenses are $4,200, you can only claim $75 (4,200 minus 4,125) as tax deductible. Claiming medical expenses may, therefore, not be worth the effort in this case.

But instead of $4,200, if your medical expenses were considerably more, say $7,000 for the tax year, you would be able to deduct $2,875 (7,000 minus 4,125) as unreimbursed medical expenses from your 2025 tax total.

Consulting a Tax Advisor

In order to claim a medical expense deduction on your taxes, you must itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040). Itemizing requires that you don’t take the standard deduction. This can be tedious work and requires very detailed record-keeping on your part throughout the year.

If you’re unsure how to properly complete your tax form, it’s important to seek out a professional who can help you get the most out of your tax return. While claiming medical and dental expenses is pretty straightforward, some deductions can be tricky. For example:

A weight-loss program is considered a medical expense if it treats a specific disease diagnosed by a healthcare provider, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, or heart disease; otherwise, it is not considered a medical expense.
A health club membership is deductible if it is primarily for preventing or treating obesity. However, if you don’t have a diagnosis of obesity from a doctor, you can’t claim your health club dues.
Transportation costs to a medical conference that you’re attending related to a chronic illness you, your spouse, or your dependent has, are deductible as medical expenses; however, meals and lodging costs are not deductible.
Cosmetic surgery is not a qualified medical expense. Therefore, you can’t deduct the cost of breast implants. However, you could deduct the cost of a breast reconstruction surgery after a mastectomy.

Make sure you tell your tax preparer up front that you have medical expenses you’d like to deduct so that they can advise you correctly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are Medical Expenses Tax Deductible for Self-Employed Individuals?

People who are self-employed and have a net profit for the year are eligible for self-employed health insurance deduction. Use Form 7206 and report it on Schedule 1 (Form 1040) line 17.

This is an adjustment to your income and not an itemized deduction. You can adjust your income for premiums paid on a health insurance plan to cover medical care, including qualified long-term care. The insurance policy can be for yourself, your spouse, your dependents, and any child who is under 27 years of age at the end of the year (even if the child isn’t your dependent).

If you don't claim 100% of your paid health insurance premiums, you can include the balance with your other medical expenses as an itemized deduction on Schedule A (Form 1040).

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What Documents Do You Need to Deduct Medical Expenses?

Here are some tips on keeping medical records for itemized deductions of out-of-pocket medical expenses from your tax return.

Create a file for unreimbursed medical bills paid out-of-pocket for each tax year.
The invoice should include information about what medical care was provided, who received the care, when the care was provided, and how much it cost.
Keep copies of medical records that prove the bills are for qualified medical and dental expenses.