IVF and Taxes

[Happy Bunny]

Is anyone deducting IVF costs on their taxes? If so, do you know of a website that is both factual and simple to understand?

We're looking into it and I struggle with complicated taxes.

[kerpupples]

We're planning on it. I don't know of a site but as far as I know you can deduct it like any other medical expense. Any medical expense that goes over 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is elegible to be deducted. So, say you spend 15,000 on 1VF. If your adjusted gross income is 60,000, then 7.5% of that is 4,500. That means you can deduct 10,500 of your IVF expenses. Make sense? Don't forget to include meds.

[MamaBoo]

According to our accountant and law that I looked into a couple of years ago, it is deductible as long as it is necessary to do to get pregnant. I know you are thinking who would do this if you didn't have to. However, there was a case of a single man who hired a surrogate to do IVF and have a child for him. The court ruled that it was not medically necessary for him to use IVF - he could have done it the old fashion way if he had wanted to. Therefore, it was not deductible like cosmetic surgery would not be. It does have to be above 7.5% of your income (or it combined with other medical expenses you have had throughout the year). Since ours was just an FET, and part of it was covered by insurance, we cannot do it this year. We did get to claim it a couple of years ago. Definately, don't forget to include the cost of meds. They are deductible too.

[LauraN]

We use www.taxact.com to do our taxes and it walks you through it. Dont forget you can write off mileage to the appts too.

[klinger13]

Barbara - we did it last year since our IVF was completely OOP and it was really easy. We use H&R block online (since we can use it free through military one source) and it walks you right through it. The IRS site actually has a pretty easy explanation of it too (kerpupples summarized it perfectly.) But yes, make sure you include all of the mileage to/from any of your appointments, meds, and include any prescriptions or appt copays for other med appointments, dentists, etc. It was amazing how the mileage adds up when you think of all of the SnS appointments, consults, etc.

[to_have_fun08]

I deducted all my stuff for my donor cycle last year. I even was able to include the attorney fees and donor agency fees. I used turbo tax and it was easy to use.

[Happy Bunny]

Klinger: Free H&R Block online for military? Awesome! We're Air Force. I'll ask my husband about it when he gets home but I'm pretty sure that he has no idea about it.

[kerpupples]

Here's a question. I normally ride the bus to work on a bus pass. On days when I go to the RE I usually drive to the doc's, then pay to park downtown. I know the mileage is deductible, but do you think the parking fees would be as well? That adds up.

[klinger13]

Barbara - Yes, through militaryonesource.com. That's a great site to begin with for military families, but this time of year they have a link to the H&R block so the filing, federal e-file, and up to 3 states e-filing is free.

Kerpupples - it looks like it is, according to the IRS website http://www.irs.gov/publications/p502/ar ... 1000178852 (copied "Transportation" section below):

Transportation

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care.

You can include:
Bus, taxi, train, or plane fares or ambulance service,

Transportation expenses of a parent who must go with a child who needs medical care,

Transportation expenses of a nurse or other person who can give injections, medications, or other treatment required by a patient who is traveling to get medical care and is unable to travel alone, and

Transportation expenses for regular visits to see a mentally ill dependent, if these visits are recommended as a part of treatment.

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 cannot include depreciation, insurance, general repair, or maintenance expenses.
If you do not want to use your actual expenses for 2011 you can use the standard medical mileage rate of 19 cents a mile for miles driven from January 1 to June 30, and 23.5 cents a mile for miles driven from July 1 to December 31, 2011.
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 use the standard mileage rate.