As we’ve explored in a past article, hearing aids can be a very expensive piece of medical equipment. However, they are also very useful, if not a necessity, to help with hearing loss.
Unfortunately, hearing aids are not covered by a lot of health insurance programs. For example, Medicare will not cover the cost of hearing aids.
So, if you get hearing aids, it’s natural to look for any way to save money on their costs. One way people consider saving money on hearing aids is when it comes to taxes. If you can use hearing aids as a tax deduction, then you can at least you can get some money back come tax time.
So, how about it? Are hearing aids tax deductible?
This article will explore whether hearing aids are tax deductible or not and give you more information on this topic.
Are Hearing Aids Tax Deductible?
The short answer is yes. It is possible that you can get a tax deduction for your hearing aids. However, as with most tax related issues, it’s not quite so straightforward. Let’s dig in a little deeper to see how this could work.
But first, what exactly is tax deductible? The term “tax deductible” refers to expenses that you can subtract from your income in order to lower your taxable income. These can include things like mortgage interest and donations to charities.
You can deduct the cost of your hearing aids from your taxable income. By doing this, it can help to lower the costs of your hearing aids.
How Much Can You Deduct?
In recent years, most people can lower the costs of your hearing aids by as much as 35 percent from your taxable income. Any model of hearing aids are tax deductible.
But it is not as simple as that. As it is with many tax-related topics, tax deductibility of hearing aids can be quite complicated.
More on Deducting Tax from Hearing Aids
According to the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, all personal medical expenses may qualify for a tax deduction.
This of course includes medical devices such as hearing aids. But there is a catch to that.
How Medical Expenses Qualify for Tax Deduction
For medical expenses to qualify for tax deduction, you must spend more than 7.5 percent of your income on medical, as well as dental, expenses. You must also itemize your medical expenses to be qualified for tax deductibility.
Any expense that is spent to treat a medical condition is considered a medical expense. Even though hearing loss is not considered a disease, treatment for it such as hearing aids is still considered a medical expense.
This makes them eligible for tax deduction on your taxable income.
Other Tax Deductible Hearing Expenses
So what other hearing-related expenses are eligible for tax deduction? Here are some:
- Hearing tests
- Copays to visits to an audiologist or ENT
- Sound therapy sessions
- Hearing aids accessories such as batteries
- Hearing aids insurance premiums
- Hearing aids repairs
- Transportation costs to medical appointments for your hearing-related sessions including fitting of hearing aids
- Cochlear implants
As expected, not all people normally itemize their medical expenses. But some of them may have significant medical expenses such as hospital stays.
And you may be one of them. But to help you, you may need the help of a tax professional. They may tell you what are the possible benefits if you itemize your medical expenses.
Also, hearing aids may also be eligible for tax deductions from your disability tax credit if you purchase hearing aids. This is applicable mostly to seniors from the age of 65 years old and above.
But to qualify, you will need to get documentation from a qualified physician.