Health care is a huge topic right now. No one knows for sure what is going to pass in Congress or how it will affect us. One thing we know for sure though is that we have a health care problem. We have more obesity in our nation that ever before. Obesity leads to diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other medical complications. People talk about preventive treatment, but it cost money for that. Well, I may have a solution for you.
Many people don't know that tucked away on the IRS website is a provision that will allow you to write off fitness expenses. This will allow you to write off the cost of a personal trainer, nutrition program, or a weight loss class. There are two situations in which you can qualify:
- One situation when this is allowable is when you are diagnosed as obese by your physician (using standard BMI). If you want to see if you are "Obese" you can use this BMI Calculator.
- Another situation is when you have a disease in which losing weight is medically necessary to improve the condition (such as hypertension or high blood pressure).
Just so you know, Medical Fitness Pros does take prescriptions from physicians, and there are cases in which we can even take insurance. You can contact me about that if you have questions, but let's get back to the IRS.
Is there a catch? Of course there's a catch! Afterall, this is the IRS we are talking about.
"Section 213(a) allows a deduction for uncompensated expenses for medical care
of an individual, the individual’s spouse or a dependent, to the extent the expenses
exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. Section 213(d)(1) provides, in part, that
medical care means amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or
prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the
body. "
What this means is that your expenses need to exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Now this includes not just your fitness expenses, but all medical expenses related to that condition. Some of you will qualify, or you may have a friend or family member that could use this information. It's getting close to the end of the year, and many of your deductibles will reset in January. I thought this might help some of you out. Section 213 is not known about by many people, so I thought I would share.
I know some of you will have questions. Feel free to give us a call at 281-500-6055 if we can help you in any way.
IRS Section 213: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-02-19.pdf