Medical Expenses You Can Deduct: IRS Rules for Supplies, Equipment and Records

General information from IRS publications, not tax or medical advice. Tax rules change by year; this page reflects IRS Publication 502 (for 2025 returns) and IRS Topic No. 502 (page reviewed 09-Oct-2026), both checked 2026-11-01.

Short answer

You may be able to deduct medical and dental expenses you paid for yourself, your spouse and your dependents, but only the part that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI), and only if you itemize on Schedule A (Form 1040). The IRS defines medical expenses as the costs of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease. Medical supplies such as bandages qualify; items ordinarily used for personal purposes, such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, do not.

What the IRS counts as a medical expense

Publication 502 states that medical expenses are “the costs of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.” Topic No. 502 adds that the deduction covers expenses paid for you, your spouse and your dependents, to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your AGI for the year. If you are looking at tax-advantaged accounts instead of the deduction, see CASRAI’s guides to HSA eligible items and the FSA eligible items list; this page covers only the Schedule A itemized deduction.

The 7.5% AGI floor and Schedule A

The deduction is not a dollar-for-dollar write-off of everything you spent. Publication 502 says you deduct “only the part of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income,” and you claim it as the itemized deduction for medical and dental expenses on Schedule A (Form 1040). Two consequences follow directly from that wording:

• Expenses at or below 7.5% of AGI produce no deduction from this line.
• The deduction is available only on a return that itemizes, so it is one input to the itemize-or-not decision, not a standalone benefit.

Supplies and equipment: what the IRS wording covers

Publication 502 lists specific supply and equipment items. The table repeats the IRS’s own wording; it is not a complete list of what qualifies.

Item	What Publication 502 says
Bandages and similar supplies	You can include “the cost of medical supplies such as bandages.”
Diagnostic devices	You can include the cost of devices used in diagnosing and treating illness and disease. The IRS example is a blood sugar test kit used to monitor blood sugar with diabetes.
Crutches	You can include the amount you pay to buy or rent crutches.
Wheelchair	You can include the amount paid for a wheelchair used for the relief of a sickness or disability.
Oxygen	You can include amounts paid for oxygen and oxygen equipment to relieve breathing problems caused by a medical condition.
Hearing aids	You can include the cost of a hearing aid and the batteries, repairs and maintenance needed to operate it.
Contact lenses and eyeglasses	You can include amounts you pay for contact lenses needed for medical reasons. Topic No. 502 also lists prescription and reading eyeglasses.
Artificial limb	You can include the amount you pay for an artificial limb.
Pregnancy test kit	You can include the amount paid to purchase a pregnancy test kit to determine if you are pregnant.
Special equipment installed in a home	Under Capital Expenses, you can include amounts paid for special equipment installed in a home, or for improvements, if their main purpose is medical care for you, your spouse or your dependent.

For background on two of these items, see CASRAI’s guides to what a wheelchair is and what crutches are.

What does not qualify

• Personal use items. Publication 502 says you cannot include an item ordinarily used for personal, living or family purposes unless it is used primarily to prevent or alleviate a physical or mental disability or illness. Its example: a toothbrush and toothpaste are a nondeductible personal expense. Topic No. 502 also lists toothpaste, toiletries and cosmetics, and most cosmetic surgery, as non-qualifying.
• Drugs that are not prescribed. “Except for insulin, you can’t include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a drug that isn’t prescribed.” The IRS example is aspirin, which does not require a prescription.
• Gym, health club or spa dues. Publication 502 says you cannot include membership dues in a gym, health club or spa.
• Amounts already covered tax-free by an HSA or FSA. You cannot include expenses paid with a tax-free distribution from your health savings account, or amounts fully reimbursed by your flexible spending arrangement when you contributed pre-tax. Publication 502 refers readers to Publication 969 for HSA details.

Reimbursements and records

Publication 502 states: “You must reduce your total medical expenses for the year by all reimbursements for medical expenses.” Only what you actually bear after insurance or other reimbursement is eligible to count toward the 7.5% floor. The same publication says you should keep records of your medical and dental expenses to support your deduction, and not send them with a paper return.

Deduction versus HSA or FSA: a sourced checklist

These points come from the IRS passages above and show why the routes are not interchangeable:

• Schedule A deduction: needs itemizing; counts only expenses above 7.5% of AGI; reimbursements are subtracted first.
• HSA: expenses paid with a tax-free HSA distribution cannot also be included as a medical-expense deduction.
• FSA: amounts fully reimbursed by an FSA funded with pre-tax pay cannot be included.
• For the documentation side of HSA spending, see the guide to a letter of medical necessity for an HSA.

Common misunderstandings

• “Every medical purchase is deductible.” Only the amount above 7.5% of AGI is, and only if you itemize.
• “Over-the-counter medicine counts.” Under Publication 502, non-prescribed drugs do not, with insulin the stated exception.
• “A product sold as a health product qualifies.” The IRS test is purpose: costs of diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease, and personal items qualify only when used primarily to prevent or alleviate an illness or disability.

Frequently asked questions

Are medical supplies like bandages deductible?

Yes, within the Schedule A rules. Publication 502 says you can include the cost of medical supplies such as bandages, subject to the 7.5% of AGI floor.

Can I deduct a blood sugar test kit?

Publication 502 gives this exact example under diagnostic devices: with diabetes, you can include the cost of a blood sugar test kit used to monitor your blood sugar level.

Is a gym membership a deductible medical expense?

No. Publication 502 says you cannot include membership dues in a gym, health club or spa.

Do I need to itemize?

Yes. Topic No. 502 says you figure the amount you are allowed to deduct on Schedule A (Form 1040).

Can anyone tell me what applies to my own return?

A tax professional or the IRS can apply these rules to your situation; this page gives general information only.

Sources

• IRS, Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses (for use in preparing 2025 returns), https://www.irs.gov/publications/p502, checked 2026-11-01.
• IRS, Topic No. 502, Medical and dental expenses, https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502, page last reviewed 09-Oct-2026, checked 2026-11-01.