SELF PAY PATIENTS, ANYONE KNOW IF PART OF THE SURGERY IS A TAX WRITE OFF???

From what I read on Turbo Tax it says and qualifying health expenses after 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is a write off.  Another words you make 40K 3,000 could not be written off.  But if you charged 12 K to your credit card for the surgery and pre-op expenses in 2012 (even if it' not paid off)  sounds like 9K can be a write off.  Only question is is WLS a qualifying health expense?  Anyone know or know a good place to look this up online?  Thanks!! 

I did a search of the IRS rulings and got this:

Medical expenses may include fees paid to doctors, payments for hospital services, prescription drug costs, physician co-pays and the cost of participating in a weight-loss aftercare program for obesity or any other medical condition defined by Publication 502.

It's tax deductible.

I would think so since WLS is considered a medical necessity if your BMI is over 40.

IRS states as long as it was not covered by insurance, exceeds the 7.5%, and was not cosmetic (meaning a medical diagnoses like morbid obesity, hypertension, etc) then medical services for weight loss are eligible.

 

IRS.gov

Absolutely! We are taking 100% of my surgery costs this year as a deduction. If you do this you want to carefully look at ALL of your qualifying medical and dental expenses for the year; insurance premiums, copays, prescriptions, deductibles and travel expenses to/from any medical appointments.  You might be surprised by how much this all adds up to.  We saved over $6K on our taxes this year by doing this.

You paid a licensed physician. Medical necessity is not a prerequisite.

That said, your total expenses have to exceed a percentage of you AGI. Unless you make a gazillion dollars that should be easy with VSG.

I claimed my plastics. That refund is helping pay for the next round.

Yes it is a tax write off. 

 

That's not really what it means...I do the long form every year and you have to have 7.5% to QUALIFY to deduct...if you charged it on your credit card that is considered paying for it so you itemize it as the full amount.  Don't forget to also do any travel expenses as well.  There is an IRS site that has all the forms, you can do it on the computer and it has explanations and tells you exactly how to fill out the forms.

 

So how do you work it if you get a loan for part of your surgical expense?  Is it all deducted the first year or as you pay for it?

*puts on nerdy bookkeeper hat*

Yes, as long as it's medically necessary (and it is, I'm sure) :)

And if you finance it, you write off the entire amount in the year the cost is incurred. You cannot write off the interest in later years, but you can write off the whole surgery.

I did mine and my CPA was all "woot woot!"