____ Only the amount of medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income was deducted.
____ Premiums paid for life insurance policies were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ Premiums paid for policies which reimbursed you for loss of earnings or for the accidental loss of life, limb, sight, etc., were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ Premiums paid for policies that guaranteed a specified amount each day, week or month in the event of hospitalization were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ Your medical expense deduction was reduced by the reimbursements you actually received.
____ If the medical expense was not paid for yourself, your spouse or your qualified dependent, the amount was not deducted as a medical expense.
____ Payments for personal analysis as part of your training were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ Payments for cosmetics, toiletries, toothpaste and like items were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ Only medicines requiring a prescription by a doctor for their use by an individual and insulin were deducted as medicine or drugs.
____ Payments for special foods or beverages that you substitute for those you normally consume were not deducted as medical expenses.
____ If medical care was not the primary reason for your being in a nursing home, rest home or other institution, the cost of meals and lodging were not deducted as a medical expense.
____ You did not deduct as a medical expense more than $50 for lodging not provided in a hospital or similar institution for an individual seeking medical care and more than $50 for an eligible person accompanying this individual (for example, a parent traveling with a sick child) and you met all of the following requirements:
(1) The lodging is primarily for and essential to medical care.
(2) The medical care is provided by a doctor in a licensed hospital or in a medical care facility related to, or the equivalent of, a licensed hospital.
(3) The lodging is not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.
(4) There is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation or vacation in the travel away from home.
____ You did not deduct the cost of meals purchased while you were away from home at lodging other than a medical facility for medical care or for the alleviation of a specific condition.
____ If your travel to another city for necessary medical treatment was a personal choice for nonmedical reasons, the travel expense was not deducted.
____ A trip taken to change environment or generally improve health was not deducted as a medical expense, even when the trip was made on the advice of a physician.
____ Only the costs of permanent improvements made to property for medical reasons that were more than the increase in the fair market value of the property were deducted.
____ Payments to household help were not deducted as a medical expense, even when you were physically unable to perform those duties.
____ Funeral and burial expenses were not deducted.
____ If the medical expenses were not paid during the year, they were not deducted.
____ Since many nondeductible items can be bought at drug stores, canceled checks alone are not considered adequate verification of payment for drugs and medicines reported on your return. You have adequate proof supporting the deductions.
____ The cost of transportation to and from work, even if your condition requires an extraordinary mode of transportation, does not qualify as a medical expense. It is a personal expense and was not deducted.
____ You did not deduct medical expenses paid by your dependent.
____ Automobile expenses were claimed either for out-of-pocket expenditures for such items as gas, oil and parking fees, or in the absence of evidence of actual expenses incurred, you substituted a standard rate of 9 cents a mile.
____ You can furnish acceptable documentary evidence, such as statements from doctors or hospitals, canceled checks, receipts, etc., to verify medical expenses paid during the year.
____ If you and your wife file separate returns, you deducted medical expenses only to the extent they exceeded 7.5% of your individual adjusted gross income.
____ If either parent can claim a child as a dependent under the rules for divorced or separated parents, each parent can include the medical expenses he or she pays for the child even if an exemption for the child is claimed by the other parent. As a separated or divorced parent, you deducted only the medical expenses that you personally paid for your child.
____ Only the cost associated with a dog or other animal that assisted an individual with physical handicaps was deducted.
____ The 30% of your health and hospitalization insurance (limited to the net income from self employment) you claimed as an adjustment to your gross income because you are self-employed was not also deducted as a medical expense.
© 1986, 1998 to 2002, Jack Warren Wade, Jr.
