Is travel expenses to obtain medical care for a dependent an eligible medical expense?

[kashalitecky]

Aloha,

I gave birth to my son on the island of Hawaii in August.  He had to be moved to the NICU on Oahu the same day due to a health condition.  We had to pay the cost of flights to fly over to Oahu and back to be with our baby at the NICU, and to bring him home.  Can I claim the flight expense as a medical expense when itemizing my deductions?

[xmasbaby0]

Yes. MEDICAL EXPENSES

The medical expense deduction has to meet a rather large threshold before it can affect your return. The amount of medical expenses that will count toward itemization is the amount that is OVER 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. You should only enter the amount that you paid in 2017—do not include any amounts that were covered by insurance or that are still outstanding.  Of course, your medical expenses plus your other itemized deductions still have to exceed your standard deduction before you will see a difference in your tax due or refund.

To enter your medical expenses go to Federal>Deductions and Credits>Medical>Medical Expenses

P.S.  Hope your little guy is fine now!  Make sure that in My Info you say he lived with you the whole year.