Medical deductions - out-of-pocket expenses vs standard mileage rate

[itseileen]

We have qualified medical deductions for 2024. We traveled to another state for some of our medical appointments. In Publication 502 under Transportation it says the following:
"Car expenses. You can include out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of gas and oil, when you use a car for
medical reasons. You can't include depreciation, insurance, general repair, or maintenance expenses.
If you don't want to use your actual expenses for 2024, you can use the standard medical mileage rate of 21 cents a mile. You can also include parking fees and tolls.
You can add these fees and tolls to your medical expenses whether you use actual expenses or the standard mileage rate."

I've calculated it both ways and we get a significantly greater deduction by using out-of-pocket expenses. The options in Turbotax are Lodging - $50 a day max, Other (bus, parking, taxi, etc.) or Miles driven to get medical care. I know I could take our total OOP expenses and divide by .21 and use that for the Miles driven but am not comfortable with that because it doesn't reflect the actual mileage. How/where do I enter out-of-pocket car expenses? Is this something Turbotax might correct in an update? Thanks in advance!

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

Just use Other for the parking fees and tolls.  Enter your actual miles in Miles driven to get medical care.

Only your total medical expense greater than 7.5% of your AGI will be entered as an itemized deduction on Schedule A.

The breakdown of the various types of medical expenses is for your information only and to make sure that you enter all expenses incurred.

[Kbichard]

Do you have enough Medical deductions to beat the standard deduction of $29,200 for married filing jointly?

[Bsch4477]

Enter your gas and oil expenses under “Other” .  The IRS will only see the total medical expenses on your return. The itemization of those expenses are for your records. 

[itseileen]

Unfortunately, yes.

[itseileen]

I kept immaculate records knowing we would have enough to qualify. It helps to know the "detail" is for my records. Thanks!