IRS Material: Doctors, Hospitals, etc.
Pub 463
You can deduct only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. In this publication, the term "7.5% limit" is used to refer to 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. The phrase "subject to the 7.5% limit" is also used. This phrase means that you must subtract 7.5% (.075) of your adjusted gross income from your medical expenses to figure your medical expense deduction. Separate returns. If you and your spouse live in a noncommunity property state and file separate returns, each of you can include only the medical expenses each actually paid. Any medical expenses paid out of a joint checking account in which you and your spouse have the same interest are considered to have been paid equally by each of you, unless you can show otherwise. You can include only the medical and dental expenses you paid this year, regardless of when the services were provided. If you pay medical expenses by check, the day you mail or deliver the check generally is the date of payment. If you use a "pay-by-phone" or "on-line" account to pay your medical expenses, the date reported on the statement of the financial institution showing when payment was made is the date of payment. You can include medical expenses you charge to your credit card in the year the charge is made. It does not matter when you actually pay the amount charged. If you did not claim a medical or dental expense that would have been deductible in an earlier year, you can file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, for the year in which you overlooked the expense. Do not claim the expense on this year's return. An amended return must be filed within 3 years from the date the original return was filed or within 2 years from the time the tax was paid, whichever is later. You cannot include medical expenses that were paid by an insurance company or other sources. This is true whether the payments were made directly to you, to the patient, or to the provider of the medical services. Decedent's medical expenses. Medical expenses for a decedent that are paid from his or her estate are treated as paid at the time the medical services were provided if they are paid within the one-year period beginning with the day after the date of death. See Decedents, later. Medical expenses paid before death by the decedent are included in figuring any deduction for medical and dental expenses on the decedent's final income tax return. This includes expenses for the decedent as well as for the decedent's spouse and dependents.