Cost Of Travel For Medical Reasons Deductible Keep Diary Or Appointment Book To Verify Expenditures

The cost of medical travel, to and from doctors, hospitals, and so on, can be deducted.

If you travel by taxi, plane or bus, be sure to keep the receipts and claim your fares as a medical deduction.

If you drive, you can either:

Deduct the actual cost of gas and oil, but not depreciation or the cost of insurance and repairs.

Or simplify the paperwork and deduct a flat allowance of 9 cents per mile for medical mileage. Whether you use the mileage allowance or claim actual costs, remember to deduct parking fees.

Let’s say that each visit to your physician calls for a 50-mile round trip and a $4 parking fee. Besides the physician’s fee, you can write off an extra $8.50.

It’s a good idea to back up your deductions for medical travel with some type of diary or appointment book in which you record why and how far you traveled, as well as how much you spent on parking. If you rent a car and drive it only for medical travel, include the entire rental charge with your other medical expenses.

Medical travel also includes the following types of expenditures:

Driving a dependent who uses a wheelchair to school when a doctor states that attendance at regular school sessions is medically desirable.

Driving to meetings of Alcoholics or Narcotics Anonymous.

Parents’ trips to visit their mentally ill child at an institution, when their visits are an essential part of the child’s treatment.

A wife’s visits to her husband at a hospital, when her presence is indispensable because of his weakened postoperative condition.

Transportation expenses of a nurse who is familiar with medications and treatment required by a patient who is traveling to get medical care.