Weight-Loss Programs May Be Tax-Deductible

If your clients are losing weight under a doctor's orders, they may now qualify for a tax deduction. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a ruling in April explaining conditions under which expenses for certain weight-loss programs may qualify as a medical deduction.

Revenue Ruling 2002-19 gives examples of two taxpayers participating in weight-loss programs. These taxpayers paid fees to join the programs and to attend periodic meetings, and purchased diet plans and booklets. One was diagnosed by a doctor as obese, and the other as suffering from hypertension. Both participated in the programs as treatment for their diseases. The costs related to their weight-loss programs are deductible for these taxpayers, to the extent not reimbursed by insurance or otherwise. The ruling distinguishes these cases from situations in which taxpayers participate in weight-loss programs to improve their general health or appearance. Such costs are nondeductible personal expenses.

Although diet foods may also be part of a weight-loss program, these are substitutes for the food that taxpayers normally consume. As such, they are not deductible medical expenses, even for taxpayers whose disease qualifies them to deduct weight-loss-program costs.

Revenue Ruling 2002-19 is available on the IRS website at www.irs.gov. It is also published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin 2002-16 (Apr. 22, 2002).