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Many people may be surprised to know that, in some cases, weight loss programs may be tax deductible. If they are part of a doctor recommended diet, weight loss programs may be considered to be medical expenses and can sometimes be claimed as a deduction on income taxes. Publication 502 provides information relating to eligibility, including the minimum percentage of gross income that medical and/or dental expenses must meet or exceed in order to be tax deductible. The amount, if any, of allowable deductions should be noted on Form 1040 Schedule A from the IRS.

In order to accurately deduct medical expenses, you may only include those that you pay for yourself or those that you have paid for someone who was considered to be a spouse or dependent at the time the services were rendered or at the time that you paid for them.

When it comes to tax deductions, it is important to know which expenses are permitted and which are not. Among the non-eligible tax deductions relating to medical expenses are the cost of nutritional or herbal supplements, vitamins or natural medicines unless they are recommended by a physician as part of a supervised diet program that may be used to treat obesity or another type of ailment that may be endangering your health. A physician may be able to recommend an entire diet program that is tax deductible.

One of the most important aspects of an effective diet program is being active. If you have been diagnosed with obesity, hypertension or heart disease, you may be able to include the costs that you incur for the purpose of losing weight if it is part of a treatment program designed to treat a specific ailment as diagnosed by a physician. This does include any fees that you may pay for membership in a weight loss group and/or meeting attendance. You cannot, however, deduct expenses relating to a gym membership, spa or health club. If, at any of these locations, you participate in specific weight loss activities and are charged a fee for such, you may be able to include the cost as part of your medical expenses.

Diet food, which is often part of a commercial weight loss program, is not tax deductible. This includes both the food and beverages due to the fact that they are considered to be a substitute for that which would normally be used to satisfy the body's nutritional requirements. The one exception to this rule, in which case you may be able to deduct the cost of special foods, is when/if the food relieves or treats some type of illness and the need for such food is confirmed by a physician's diagnosis.

If your health insurance company reimburses you for your medical expenses at any time throughout the year, you cannot then deduct those same expenses on your income taxes. On a final note, you cannot deduct the expenses related to a weight loss program that is designed for the purpose of improving your appearance or other cosmetic reasoning. In order to correctly claim exemptions relating to diet programs, the program and its components must be recommended by a physician.

The information in this article is designed to be used as reference purposes only. It should not be used as, in place of or in conjunction with professional tax, legal or medical advice. If you have any questions relating to tax deductions and a diet program, consult with your physician, a local tax advisor and/or the IRS.