If I received a prescription from the VA to buy a king size adjustable bed am I able to write off the purchase on my taxes?

[Anonymous]

Examples of Medical and Dental Payments You Can Deduct

To the extent you weren't reimbursed, you can deduct what you paid for:

Medical aids such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, hearing aids, braces, crutches, wheelchairs, and guide dogs, including the cost of maintaining them.

the bed, since prescribed by a doctor would seem to be a qualified medical expense

[macuser_22]

Only if all itemized deductions exceed the standard deduction will it be of benefit.

Not all itemized deductions count the full amount.  Medical expenses are reduced by 7.5% of AGI so if your AGI is $30,000, for example, then only medical expenses more than $2,250 would be an itemized deduction.

The 2018 tax law also caps the total of Sales tax OR State and local income tax,  Property (real estate and personal property) taxes at $10,000.

Also Itemized deductions start to phase out if AGI exceeds a certain amount.

You can check the actual amount of itemized deductions by using the Search Topics for "itemized deductions, choosing" (under "My Account, Tools" in the online versions).    Click on "Change my deduction". That will display the actual amount of itemized deductions vs. the standard deduction.    (Be sure to uncheck "Change my deduction" after checking it so you do not lock in the wrong deduction.

2018 standard deductions

$12,000 Single
$18,000 Head of Household
$24,000 Married Jointly

Add an additional $1,300 for over age 65 or blind
This amount increases to $1,600 if the taxpayer is also unmarried.

[TomD8]

If the purchase is an ordinary bed, the IRS may well challenge the deduction.  Here is what they say:

You can't include in medical expenses the cost of an item ordinarily used for personal, living, or family purposes unless it is used primarily to prevent or alleviate a physical or mental disability or illness. For example, the cost of a toothbrush and toothpaste is a nondeductible personal expense.

In order to accommodate an individual with a physical disability, you may have to purchase an item ordinarily used as a personal, living, or family item in a special form. You can include the excess of the cost of the item in a special form over the cost of the item in normal form as a medical expense.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p502#en_US_2017_publink1000179075

[macuser_22]

If a prescription was needed then I was thinking of a "hospital type" of adjustable bed only available from a medical equipment supply house, but I don't think those come in king bed sizes so this might just be a general available "normal" adjustable bed which probably would not qualify.

[TomD8]

Agreed.  A doctor's prescription alone does not guarantee that the item is deductible.