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gluten-free Food Tax Write Off?

Rachel W

By Rachel W
in Coping with Celiac Disease

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Rachel W Apprentice
Rachel W
Posted

I had a lady tell me a while ago that her grandson's doctor suggested a gluten-free diet(due to autism),,and he also told her that since it could be considered a medically prescribed diet, that they could use it as a deduction on their taxes??

Does anybody know if this is true? I also heard you can write of mileage and costs of traveling to the doctor

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ravenwoodglass Mentor
ravenwoodglass
Posted

Talk to your tax person. You can only deduct the difference between gluten free and regular food and can only deduct medical expenses over 7.5% of your income. Your tax person can tell you if you qualify to take the deduction and whether travel expenses can be deducted also but you would need to have kept all your reciepts. It also might red flag you for a audit, IMHO.

TooManyHats Rookie
TooManyHats
Posted

I don't know about the diet as it relates to autism, but I have heard that if we are officially diagnosed with Celiac and the doctor writes it with our name, diagnosis, and date then we can write-off the DIFFERENCE in the cost between gluten free food and "regular" food. For example, if a loaf of wheat bread costs .99 cents, and a loaf of gluten free bread costs 5.99, then you could write that 5.00 off on your taxes under medical expenses.

Jestgar Rising Star
Jestgar
Posted

again, as RWG said, ABOVE 7.5% of your income. If you make $50,000 per year, you can deduct medical expenses OVER $3750.

Rachel W Apprentice
Rachel W
Posted
  • Author

ThAanks guys...i will call my tax person tomorrow..but.. i think i would rather just not try and claim anything and NOT risk getting audited :blink:

AngieH Newbie
AngieH
Posted

I had a lady tell me a while ago that her grandson's doctor suggested a gluten-free diet(due to autism),,and he also told her that since it could be considered a medically prescribed diet, that they could use it as a deduction on their taxes??

Does anybody know if this is true? I also heard you can write of mileage and costs of traveling to the doctor

If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, then you may be able to deduct your gluten free food purchases from your taxes. Obviously you will need to consult a tax professional before you do this, but in most cases it is completely legal.

This can result in nice tax savings, which ultimately reduce the cost of your gluten free food purchases over the year.

You must document everything if you do deduct gluten free foods and it may raise an audit flag from the IRS, but if you have everything documented, there should be no troubles.

You may be able to save $100 or more this year in tax savings from this one little tip!

Hope this helps!

Angie.

Gemini Experienced
Gemini
Posted

If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, then you may be able to deduct your gluten free food purchases from your taxes. Obviously you will need to consult a tax professional before you do this, but in most cases it is completely legal.

This can result in nice tax savings, which ultimately reduce the cost of your gluten free food purchases over the year.

You must document everything if you do deduct gluten free foods and it may raise an audit flag from the IRS, but if you have everything documented, there should be no troubles.

You may be able to save $100 or more this year in tax savings from this one little tip!

Hope this helps!

Angie.

In the US, you can only deduct the difference in cost between regular food and their gluten free counterparts. In addition to that, total deductions must exceed 7 1/2% of your adjusted gross income. Unless you are living at poverty level and have a lot of medical expenses to deduct, it's not worth the trouble of documentation...you won't save enough money to make it worth doing. It's cheaper to just buy healthy foods and go easy on the gluten-free brownies!

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Skylark Collaborator
Skylark
Posted

Not only that, but I'm pretty sure you have to have enough other deductions to itemize in the first place.

SGWhiskers Collaborator
SGWhiskers
Posted

In past years, an alternative to the 7.5% medical expense minimum was medical flexible spending accounts. You didn't need to meet the 7.5% minimum and could claim the difference in the cost of the food.

There are new laws that started 1/1/11 regarding flexible spending accounts in relation to over the counter medications. I don't know if or how that affects us since our diet is prescribed, but our products are not controlled by a pharmacist. I'm hoping there is a way we can still use flex spending for our gluten-free items.

I would talk to your employer's benefits specialist and ask them to look into medically prescribed diets. I would also get a script from your doctor for a gluten free diet.

By using a flex spending account, you are avoiding claiming it on your taxes and don't need to worry about triggering an audit.

My strategy for maximizing my flex spending account at work was to set aside as much as I thought I would use for the Dr. and pharmacy and then save my grocery reciepts in a basket on the kitchen counter for a year as backup in case I didn't spend as much at the doctor as I thought I would. (Flex spending accounts are a use it or loose it account). In the 2 years I did this, I didn't need to use the receipts for food because my medical expenses were high enough, but it was a nice feeling of security knowing that I wouldn't loose anything.

Good luck and post what you find out if you learn anything about the new rules for flex spending accounts this year. I'm having a baby in March, so I can adjust my benefits at that time, so I didn't get this all straightened out before the new year like I should have.

  • 2 years later...
alscat Newbie
alscat
Posted

THANKS FOR THIS LINK - I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THE 7.5% of income.....

 

I do like the Flex Med accounts though - I will look into that. I just filed extension b/c I had not gone and gotten the cost of the normal product related to the gluten-free ones I have. 

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