Question:
CAN YOU CLAIM PLASTIC SURGERY COST IF NOT COVERED ON YOUR TAXES?

   — CINDY D. (posted on May 18, 2004)

May 18, 2004
Only if you don't get audited. The feds look at all of it as cosmetic surgery. If you are going to deduct it then I would make sure I had letters from the PS and WLS and maybe your PCP indicating what the problem is and it's medical name etc. Then keep those letters as your justification that it was not PS but indeed reconstructive surgery. <p>The feds need to go one step further and regconize that RS after significant weight loss is indeed medically necessary and allow the costs associated with the skin removal to be deducted. They now recognize anything related to weight loss, so this is the next piece of the puzzle. However, they will need to set some criteria like minimum percentage of body weight lost or something to identify the right people who should take advantage of that tax write-off.
   — zoedogcbr

May 18, 2004
I was told this by H & R Block. If insurance paid for my WLS due to medical necessity and I lost over 100 pounds that my plastic surgery cost would be deductible.
   — dianne E.

May 19, 2004
I forget where I saw it first, but at some point I found a link to an IRS website that discussed this. If you had WLS for treatment of morbid obesity and subsequently needed reconstructive plastic surgery as a necessary follow-up, you can deduct it.
   — christied