Deducting Medical Expenses

Megan91

To deduct medical expenses, do I include all expenses billed during 2024 or only what I actually paid out of pocket in 2024? For example I have a $1800 bill from surgery last month, but I will not be paying it in full in 2024. Can I include the full $1800 or only how much I have paid towards it in 2024?

Or is there even a point in figuring this if we normally do a standard deduction?

JulieO

Hi Megan91,

Thanks for the question.

You will only deduct the amount you actually paid during the year, not amounts billed. To address your second question, regarding if there is a point in figuring out the amount to deduct, it depends on the totality of all of your itemized deductions compared to the amount of your standard deduction. Generally taxpayers choose the one that is the higher amount. When it comes to medical expenses, keep in mind that only the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is deductible. For example, if your adjusted gross income is 50,000, 7.5% of that is $3,750, so only amounts above $3,750 that you paid for medical expenses would be deductible.