Prescribed weight loss pills are tax deductible! The issue of obesity and weight related problems is taken extremely seriously by the US government. So much so that the cost of a properly supervised weight loss program is tax deductible.
"You can include in medical expenses the cost of a weight-loss program undertaken at a physicianıs direction to treat an existing disease (such as heart disease). But you cannot include the cost of a weight-loss program if the purpose of the weight control is to maintain your general good health." This is extracted from this IRS publication. The ruling is retroactive to 1998.
Deductible costs include:-
- The initial fees to join a weight loss program
- Additional fees to attend regular meetings in which participants develop diet plans, receive diet menus and literature and discuss problems encountered in dieting.
- Bariatric surgery
- FDA approved weight-loss drugs
- Physician and hospital-based programs
- Behavioral counseling
- The services of physicians
- dietitians and nutritionists as well as commercial-like programs which are specific for weight loss and maintenance.
Deductible costs do NOT include:-
- Cost of diet foods (this is a personal expense)
- The cost of enrollment in a weight loss program to improve appearance, general health or sense of well-being, rather than to treat a specific medical problem
- Non prescription weight loss products
- Nutritional Supplements
- Any costs that are covered by insurance