Question

Can I deduct food expenses while traveling for medical reasons?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 1, 2019
1 reply
0 views

No text available

TurboTax Deluxe Online

Employee

Directly from the IRS Publication 502:

You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals at a hospital or similar institution if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care. You can't include in medical expenses the cost of meals that aren't part of inpatient care.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf

I

ibmpete

My wife's 90 year old Mother has been living with us for 2 years. She does not drive. I am legally blind and do not drive. In Jan 2021, her mother fell and severely broke her femur and she was transported by ambulance from local emergency room to UT Medical Center 77 miles away. She spent 4 weeks in ICU/hospital and then spent 2 months ini extended care.

Entire time in hospital my wife stayed at a hotel and spent entire days with her mom. Most of her meals she purchased at hospital. We used Hilton points at first to cover hotel but ran out and had to pay out of pocket.

How much is deductible

P

PattiF

You will be able to include some of these expenses on your tax return as an Itemized Deduction on Schedule A.

You can include lodging for a person traveling with the person receiving the medical care. This is subject to a $50 per person limit per night. Unfortunately, meals are not a deductible expense for someone traveling with a medical patient.

Mileage expenses to travel to and from the UT Medical Center are a deductible expense with a standard mileage rate of 16 cents per mile.

You can deduct only the part of your medical expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).

Here is a TurboTax help article with instructions on entering your expenses.

@ibmpete

**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"