www.incontinentsupport.org

I have been wearing diapers for more than 20 years, but recently began wonderig if I can deduct the cost as a medical expense on my taxes. Any thoughts?

I think you'd have to check with your accountant to know better, but usually if you rack up a certain (high) dollar amount of medical related expenses, you can take a medical deduction. The amount is pretty high and I've never reached the limit to get the deduction.

There's also the 125 Cafeteria Plan thing if your company offers it. With this program you can purchase medical supplies at Pre Tax dollars. Diapers, diaper rash ointments and such are included in the list. There are lots of other things included - contact solution, OTC and Prescription meds. I found a link that lists out all of the items covered. http://www.mycafeteriaplan.com/sample_expenses.htm

If you have a lot of expenses in supplies, this could possibly a decent benefit.

Ray:
Thanks! I used to do just what you suggested, but my current employer does not offer such a plan.

Hi--

My tax accountant indicated that I could only deduct diaper expense if the diapers were prescribed by my doctor, but not covered by my insurance (I'm in the USA). So, I asked my Urologist to prescribe my diapers, and I'm deducting the expense of one case per month of Molicare Super-Plus from my taxes (I use cloth at home/night).

Worth a thought!

Gimwet

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Gimwet

That's what I thought. I will call my doctor and ask for a prescription.
Thanks!

Hey Rick123,

I've only been wearing them for 6 years, and I had wondered the same thing, because of the expense of having to use them. So I called the IRS and asked them specifically about it. "Were diapers and supplies deductible?" I was told that they were, provided that they were used to treat a medical condition. You had to have proof that you have been to a doctor for treatment of this condition and diagnosed with it, IE: incontinence, or neurogenic bladder, etc... Once you had the diagnosis, you can deduct the diapers and supplies, but you must have receipts for everything you want to deduct.
The other catch to this is when you file your taxes, you must meet the amount required to itemize in order to deduct this stuff. The amount of all of your expenses needs to be a certain percentagte of your adjusted gross income. I'm not familiar with all of the details, because I have been going to an accountant for many years and he takes care of all of this for me. But you can include in this list the mileage to and from the doctors office and hospitals or physical therapy, basically, any travel you do for treatment of a medical condition is deductible. I keep a yearly planner and I write down all of my appointments so I can keep a log of every trip I make, and I know how far it is for a round trip to each of my doctors offices and the hospitals. At the end of the year, I add up all the mileage and give my accountant the total number of miles driven, and he does his majic for me.
You can also include the cost of all of your prescriptions, and you can request a list of what you spent from the pharmacy each year. Anything you pay as far as deductibles or co-pays can be included as well.
The cost of your diapers, creams, plastic pants, whatever you wouldn't normally pay for if you didn't have this condition, you can include in the list of deductions. This is what I was told by an IRS agent or consultant, whomever it was that answered the phone. I got their agent or employee number for reference just in case anything came into question on my taxes.

But it might be worth a phone call to you to find out for sure what you can do in your situation. I hope this has been helpful to you, and good luck. God knows we all can use the extra money from being able to make these deductions.

Rick

From what I've heard... if you can get a prescription for diapers from your doctor you can write the associated costs off on your taxes.

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~~PuddleGuy