No, that is not a deductible medical expense. You can however deduct the medical miles you drive.
The IRS lets you deduct medical expenses only if the amount is more than 10% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). If you or your spouse were born before January 2, 1951, you can deduct medical and dental expenses that are more than 7.5% of your AGI.
The IRS defines “medical expenses” as the costs of diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating or preventing diseases. It also includes the costs for “treatments affecting any part or function of the body.” You can’t include the costs of things that are beneficial to general health like vitamins or a vacation.
You can include the medical expenses you pay for yourself on the medical expense deduction. You can also include the costs for a spouse or your dependent. The latter only applies if they were a spouse or dependent at the time the services were provided or when you paid for them.
The IRS allows you to include your transportation costs that are primarily for and essential to medical care. You can include:
- Bus, train, taxi, plane fares or ambulance services
- Transportation expenses of a parent who must go with a child
- Transportation expenses for visits to see a mentally ill dependent. The IRS allows this if the visits are a recommended part of treatment.
- Transportation expenses of a nurse or other person who can give treatments required by the patient who is traveling is unable to travel alone. This can include injections, medications and more.
You can include the cost of special medical equipment for your car. This could include the cost of special hand controls or anything else installed in the car for use by a person of disability. You can also include the difference between the cost of a regular car and a car specially designed to hold a wheelchair.
Please see the following website for mileage rates:
https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/standard-mileage-rates/
