IRS Medical and Weight Loss Tax Deductions and Credits

Can you take weight loss expenses off of your taxes?
It’s tax time and you may be wondering if you can deduct your weight loss expenses on your taxes? Yes, you can say the IRS however there are a few rules that apply.

Source: IRS

Here is an IRS excerpt from the 2021 IRS Publication #502:

IRS Tax Topic 502 - Medical and Dental Expenses

Can you deduct Weight-Loss Program expenses from your taxes?
You can't include in medical expenses the cost of a weight-loss program if the purpose of the weight loss is the improvement of appearance, general health, or sense of well-being. You can't include amounts you pay to lose weight unless the weight loss is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease). If the weight-loss treatment isn't for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician, you can't include either the fees you pay for membership in a weight-reduction group or fees for attendance at periodic meetings. Also, you can't include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa.

For a full list of eligible exceptions view this IRS list (2021, Excerpt): 

Weight-Loss Program
You can't include in medical expenses the cost of a weight-loss program if the purpose of the weight loss is the improvement of appearance, general health, or sense of well-being. You can't include amounts you pay to lose weight unless the weight loss is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease). If the weight-loss treatment isn't for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician, you can't include either the fees you pay for membership in a weight-reduction group or fees for attendance at periodic meetings. Also, you can't include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa.

You can't include the cost of diet food or beverages in medical expenses because the diet food and beverages substitute for what is normally consumed to satisfy nutritional needs.

See Weight-Loss Program under What Medical Expenses Are Includible, earlier.

For more information, see Questions and Answers: Changes to the Itemized Deduction for 2014 Medical Expenses on IRS.gov.

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 are not limited to the following:

• Payments of fees to doctors, dentists, surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and nontraditional medical practitioners
• Payments for in-patient hospital care or nursing home services, 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 made for admission and transportation to a medical conference relating to a chronic disease that you, your spouse or your dependents have (if the costs are primarily for and essential to necessitated medical care). However, you may not deduct the costs for meals and lodging while attending the medical conference
• Payments for false teeth, reading or prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses, hearing aids, crutches, wheelchairs, and guide dogs for the blind or deaf
• 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 medical 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 fees
• Payments for insurance premiums you paid for policies that cover medical care or for a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering qualified long-term care services. However, if you are an employee, do not include in medical expenses the portion of your premiums treated as paid by your employer under its sponsored group accident, health policy or qualified long-term care insurance policy. Also, do not include the premiums that you paid under your employer-sponsored policy under a premium conversion policy (pre-tax), paid by an employer-sponsored health insurance plan (cafeteria plan) or any other medical and dental expenses unless the premiums are included in box 1 of your Form W-2 (PDF), Wage and Tax Statement. For example, if you are a federal employee participating in the premium conversion program of the Federal Employee Health Benefits (FEHB) program, you may not include the premiums paid for the policy as a medical expense since they are never included in your gross income.

If you are self-employed and have a net profit for the year, you may be eligible for the self-employed health insurance deduction. This is an adjustment to income rather than an itemized deduction for premiums you paid on a health insurance policy covering medical care including a qualified long-term care insurance policy covering medical care for yourself and your spouse and dependents. See Chapter 6 of Publication 535 for eligibility information. If you do not claim 100% of your self-employed health insurance deduction, you can include the remaining premiums with your other medical expenses as an itemized deduction on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF).

You may deduct as an expense any medicine or drug that is a prescribed drug or is insulin (even if such drug is available without a prescription). A prescription means a written or electronic order for a medicine or drug that meets the legal requirements of a prescription in the state in which the medical expense is incurred and that is issued by an individual who is legally authorized to issue a prescription in that state.

You may not deduct funeral or burial expenses, over-the-counter medicines, toothpaste, toiletries, cosmetics, a trip or program for the general improvement of your health, or most cosmetic surgery. You may not deduct amounts paid for nicotine gum and nicotine patches, which do not require a prescription.

You can only include the medical expenses you paid during the year and you can only use the expenses once on the return. You must reduce your total deductible medical expenses for the year by any reimbursement of deductible medical expenses and expenses used when figuring other credits or deductions. This is true whether you receive the reimbursement directly or if it is paid directly to the doctor, hospital or other medical providers.

To determine whether an expense is deductible, see Can I Deduct My Medical and Dental Expenses? on IRS.gov. For additional information on medical expenses, including who will qualify as your dependent for purposes of the deduction, how to figure and how to report the deduction on your return, see IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses. IRS publications are available on IRS.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676). How to contact the IRS by phone?




For those of you with doctor-prescribed weight loss expenses this may be helpful. For more information visit or talk with the IRS: IRS.gov Medical Expenses

A few things to consider regarding your weight loss expenses:

• If the purpose of the weight loss is the improvement of your appearance, general health, or sense of well-being you cannot take them off as part of your medical expenses.
• the treatment must be doctor prescribed
• the weight loss must be prescribed as a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease)
• if not prescribed by a doctor you cannot include either the fees you pay for membership in a weight reduction group or fees for attendance at periodic meetings
• you cannot include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa
• you cannot include the cost of diet food or beverages in medical expenses because the diet food and beverages substitute for what is normally consumed to satisfy nutritional needs
• Disclaimer: Keep in mind that these rules change often, be sure to consult your accountant or the IRS for the most up-to-date information.