Can I write off the cost of plastic surgery on my taxes?

I recently underwent a tummy tuck and inner thigh lift after losing 120 lbs as a lap-bander.  I had a lot of excess hanging skin in both areas that was removed that was irritating and I wouldn't have been able to get rid of with any kind of exercise.  I am wondering if anyone has written off the cost of these types of surgeries on their taxes?  I looked at IRS.gov and it says that MOST cosmetic surgeries are not eligible but it does provide examples of some that are.  I am unsure if, under the cir****tances, my surgeries would qualify.

You would deifnitely want to consult with a tax expert to make that determination, but you can usually only write off medical expenses if you itemize your deductions vs taking the standard deduction (and the medical expenses have minimums and what not). 

My CPA said as long as I had a letter from the surgeon stating the surgery was medically necessary it is permissible to write it off.  I wrote off a couple procedures in 2010 and I have one to write off in 2012.

Oh wow really?  I had no idea,   I am all over this.  Thanks for brining this up...

I have the paperwork for my short term disability that states medically necessary.  I'm planning on doing it-provided the amount even qualifies...it has to be a certain % of your adjusted gross...so I'll see what Turbotax says.

Hello, I am from Canada so not the same tax rules, but I did read a reply to your question that is the same as what happened for me.  

I had my tummy tuck and breast lift done in 2011 and I submitted all the medical expenses for that when preparing my income tax return.  My plastic surgeon provided me with a letter stating that the surgery was reconstructive surgery and necessary due to extreme weight loss.  I was on pins and needles waiting to see what the Income Tax decision would be, and it came back that they accepted all expenses and I received a refund.  Happily this refund helped pay for my recent arm lift.

Good luck and I hope you have the same results.

I have been trying to figure this out myself.  I have been searching online and finding a lot of conflicting thoughts.  Obviously medical necessary kind of eliminated it from the "cosmetic" side of things to me.  The IRS does say that it is deductible to remove a deformity as a result of a disease, and obesity is a well recognized disease, so I feel it would apply.  I have found at least one case where the IRS tried to deny that deduction based on obesity being a disease, but the court overruled them and allowed the deduction.  But others don't seem to be as confident in it.  For me, it would be about an $8,000 deduction (over 10% of my income), and that would make a significant difference in my return.  I am still debating on whether or not I should just go ahead and do it.  I don't have any paperwork from doctors as I lost all my weight on my own, and made the determination to have the surgery on my own too after some research.  

You only need a letter or other proof if you get audited.  If you use a program like TurboTax it will predict your chance of getting audited.

It costs a lot of money to audit a tax return and the auditors are not going to do that unless they see potential of a substantial amount of underpayment. 

Unless you are claiming hundreds of thousands in plastic surgery costs and unless it is purely cosmetic, you are not taking much risk in claiming the cost of skin removal, etc. It is for follow-up to a condition that you had surgery to treat in the first place.

The most important thing is that you believe that you are doing the right thing.  About 1% of tax returns get audited.  If you can convince the auditor that you are honest in your belief that your surgery was medically necessary, there is little chance that they will deny the deduction.

Remember that you have a 99% chance that they will not challenge you and you will not have to explain anything to an auditor.