Whose Medical Expenses Are Deductible?

You can deduct your own medical expenses, those of your spouse, and those of anyone you can claim as a dependent.

For a married couple filing jointly, this makes it simple - you can add up both spouses' expenses, those of all your children, and those of any other dependents you are supporting in the hopes of reaching the 10 percent AGI limit (7.5 percent if the taxpayer or spouse is over age 65).

However, if you're married filing separately, this means that you can deduct only those expenses that you actually pay for yourself or your spouse, and those that you actually pay for anyone claimed as a dependent on your separate return. Once again, you can see why filing separately is often unattractive for most married couples.

For divorced or legally separated parents, the IRS is slightly more lenient. As long as either parent can claim the child as a dependent, both parents can deduct any medical expenses they personally paid for the child.

If you are adopting a child, you can deduct expenses that you paid for the child before the adoption was finalized, so long as the child qualified as your dependent at the time the expenses were incurred or paid. If you pay back an adoption agency or anyone else (such as a birth mother) for medical expenses after the adoption goes through, you can deduct the expenses, except for those incurred before the adoption negotiations began. See also the discussion of the adoption tax credit.