Tax Season Essentials: IRS Approves Extra Medical Care Expenses

The Internal Revenue Service said that the amounts paid for certain diagnostic procedures and devices, such as an annual physical examination, a full-body electronic scan and a pregnancy test kit, qualify as deductible medical care expenses if they are not otherwise compensated.

IRS Revenue Ruling 2007-72 said the costs are deductible expenses even though the individual isn't experiencing any symptoms of illness. In the case of a scan that serves no non-medical function, the individual doesn't have to consult a physician first, and the expense isn't disallowed because of the high cost or existence of less expensive alternatives.

The revenue ruling gives three scenarios, including a taxpayer who undergoes an annual physical examination by a physician, and pays for the physician's services and laboratory tests.

In another situation, a taxpayer pays for a full-body electronic scan, a relatively high-cost procedure, performed by a technician at a clinic. However, the taxpayer has not consulted a physician before undergoing the procedure, or determined if less expensive alternatives are available. In the third situation, a taxpayer buys a test kit and uses it to determine whether she is pregnant.