The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s increased standard deduction amounts moved me from an itemizing taxpayer to one who claims the standard deduction.
Well, my improved health also helped.
Even after the Republican tax reform bill took effect, for a couple of years I still had enough medical expenses — not to get too personal, but the serious medical scares included, even with insurance, some costly surgeries — to make tallying them on Schedule A the better tax deduction choice.
I’m feeling much better, thank you, but I still track all my medical expenses, just in case. If my health takes a turn, and claiming all the year's treatment costs will help cut my tax bill, it’s easier to have them on hand than digging out the records or recreating them.
That’s especially true of medical travel costs.
Recording your medical travel: I'm a note taker by nature, which is probably why I ended up in journalism. That tendency has helped me at tax time, too.
For the last few years, in addition to a business travel notebook in my car, I've kept a separate one to track my medical travels.
Yes, your mileage to and from doctors' exams, as well as picking up medications those docs have prescribed count as itemized expenses. This falls under what the Internal Revenue Service describes as "amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care."
The IRS also accepts some other not necessarily routine travel costs, such as transportation expenses —
- of a nurse or other person who can give injections, medications, or other treatment required by a patient who is traveling to get medical care and is unable to travel alone; and
- for regular visits to see a mentally ill dependent, if these visits are recommended as a part of treatment.
And it doesn't have to be just for your own illnesses. Parents of an ailing dependent child can include in medical expenses the transportation costs for treatment of their youngster.
Getting to and from medical treatments: Travel via your vehicle obviously counts. But what if you don’t drive or don’t have car when you need to go to the doctor? Don’t worry.
Taxi, ride-share, and public transportation costs to doctors, pharmacies, and other IRS-approved medical treatments also count.
If the travel is outside your hometown, train or plane fares also can be deducted.
And if it's an emergency, don't forget to include any ambulance service fees that aren't covered by your insurance.
Medical travel deduction methods: Just like with business travel, your doctor-related car costs can be claimed in one of two ways.
You use the actual auto expenses method. For medical travel, this includes out-of-pocket expenses like the cost of gas and oil. You can't, however, count auto depreciation, insurance, general repair, or maintenance expenses here.
If you don't want to bother with keeping track of your actual auto expenses, you can use the standard mileage rate. These are set each year for medical, as well as business and moving costs, based on inflation. For the 2024 tax year, the medical mileage rate is 21 cents It is unchanged for 2025.
Even if you claim the standard rate, don't forget to hang onto parking and toll receipts. You can add these costs to your medical expenses whether you use actual expenses or the standard mileage rate.
The bottom line is to use the medical travel deduction method that give you the greater tax savings. The IRS offers this example of how to decide:
Bill Jones drove 2,800 miles in 2024 for medical reasons.
He spent $400 for gas, $30 for oil, and $100 for tolls and parking, giving him an actual expenses total of $530.
He then figures the standard mileage amount, multiplying his 2,800 medical miles by 21 cents for a total of $588.
Bill also adds the $100 tolls and parking, giving him a total under the standard mileage method of $688.
In Bill's case, the $688 from the standard mileage method is more tax advantageous that the actual expenses method.
Medical travel only: That insurance coverage caveat is key. While second opinions are a good idea when it comes to many medical situations, you don't get seconds on medical mileage claims.
Basically, the IRS doesn't allow tax break double dipping under any circumstances.
So if your insurance covers your medical travel, you can't claim it.
Similarly, if you are reimbursed for your out-of-pocket medical travel costs from a flexible spending account (FSA) or the health savings account (HSA) associated with your high deductible health plan (HDHP), those amounts can't be claimed as itemized expenses.
Specificity required: OK, you're ready to track those medical miles.
But there's one more thing you need to keep in mind. Make sure your medical travel is just that. For medical purposes only.
Most of us multitask, be it at the office, doing parts of two projects simultaneously; at home, watching TV while paying bills; or in running errands. I do all of that, including mapping out routes where I can get several things done on one local road trip.
But when it comes to counting medical miles, the IRS frowns upon trips that include a trip to the doctor, followed by a stop at the store for milk after you’ve picked up your child from a play date before heading home.
That total multipurpose trip's miles don't cut it as far as the IRS is concerned. All your potentially deductible mileage must be discrete in the eyes of the IRS.
A trip to the doctor and just that trip counts as medical mileage. It's the same as the IRS approach to allowable business miles. Just the travel to visit your client — or the travel to your doctor — counts when it comes to allowable tax-deductible miles.
Again, this is why I keep two separate business and medical travel logs. If you're into digital tracking, several apps offer similar record keeping.
Some things don't count: Remember, too, that there are some medical travel costs where the IRS flat out says no.
When it comes to medical tax breaks, transportation expenses that the IRS generally says you can't count include —
- Travel for purely personal reasons to another city for an operation or other medical care. Yes, it's handy your sister lives in Dallas, which also is home to a top-notch sleep apnea clinic. Enjoy you family get-together. But review the earlier discussion on medical multitasking. Your combination personal and medical travel could cause the IRS to raise questions.
- Travel that is merely for the general improvement of one's health, even if the trip is made on the advice of a doctor. So, no, that yoga retreat doesn't count, even though it helped you lower your medically high blood pressure.
- The costs of operating a specially equipped car for other than medical reasons.
Still, as noted earlier, there are plenty of other medical mileage expenses the IRS does accept. So jot those down for inclusion in your tax filing computations.
The medical travel amount might just be what you need to exceed the 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income (AGI) threshold you must clear before you can claim the costs.
You also might find these items of interest:
- IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses
- 11 medical costs that could make itemizing the best tax Rx
- Inflation adjustments to medical tax breaks could help you feel better
- Business mileage tax deduction rate goes up in 2025, other three are unchanged
Advertisements
🌟 Search Amazon Tax Products 🌟
The text link above is an affiliate ad. If you click through and then buy a product, I receive a commission.
