Lasik Surgery and Your Taxes

Many people choose to undergo LASIK surgery in order to correct or at least better their vision. Unfortunately, since this procedure is often considered elective, it isn’t typically covered by health insurance policies.

However, just because your health insurance doesn’t cover it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to eat the whole cost. Often, you can deduct the cost of the surgery from your tax return.

The Importance of itemizing

If your LASIK surgery qualifies as a medical expense and you wish to deduct It, then you will need to itemize your deductions when you fill out your tax return. You won’t be able to claim the standard deduction. Instead, you will need to add up all of your tax deductible expenses and qualify them.

Once you have done this, you will be able to determine your itemized deductions, which you can then enter on your tax returns instead of the standard deduction. Of course, if your deductions equal less than the standard deduction, which is $6,350 for most taxpayers, this isn’t worth your while. However, if you can deduct more than that amount, then go ahead and do it in an effort to save.

Keep Limitations in Mind

As you deduct costs related to your LASIK surgery, keep in mind that the IRS has placed limits on what you can deduct.

In general, medical expenses can only be deducted to the extent that they exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income. So, basically, you can only deduct the portion of your medical expenses that goes over 10% of your income.

What this means for you is that, unfortunately, you probably cannot deduct all of the costs related to your eye surgery. However, you can deduct some of them, which could ultimately save you money.

To determine if itemizing deductions and going through all the effort to claim LASIK-related expenses is worth your while, talk with a tax professional. They can help you to understand whether or not claiming medical expenses is worthwhile in your case and, either way, can help you to find foolproof ways to save on your taxes.