According to IRS Revenue Ruling 2003-58, the law does limit the deduction for medicine or drugs to those drugs that require a prescription. Even when recommended (or prescribed) by a doctor, medicines available over-the-counter are not deductible. The point is you can buy them without a prescription. Read the Revenue Ruling. IRS pubs are not authoritive.
With regard to medicines and drugs that's correct. If it's a nutritional supplement rather than a medicine or drug, that restriction apparently does not apply.
but, are nutritional supplements "medicine or drugs"? I think not.
I don't believe 2003-58 applies to jo's case unless his calcium supplements are considered to be a "drug".
2003-58 states in part that "§213(b)does not apply to items that are not medicines or drugs"To get back to jo's specific question, most authorities would hold that Calcium is a nutritional supplement (in the category of a mineral).
Is there IRS guidance for what the IRS considers a "nutritional supplement" vs what the IRS considers a "drug"?
--ron
So my doctor one time recommended that I supplement my daily intake of nutritional requirements with bananas, since that supplement contains the necessary potassium that the body needs daily. My bananas are now tax deductible. Yeah!!!! Or does it matter that bananas are not in pill form or in a bottle? In a bottle; yes, banana liquer made by Bols or DeKuyper would fit that bill.
Again, the technical test is whether it is prescribed for a specific medical condition rather than for general health reasons. If you are specifically sick because of lack of potassium, and your doctor prescribes bananas in particular to ease your illness, then it seems to me you'd have a good argument.
That said, I haven't gone to look at how the courts have dealt with this issue.
nutritional requirements with bananas, since that supplement contains
My criteria would be that you have to eat anyway, and personal meals are not deductible, so recommending a different fruit is not an extra expense -- instead of eating a slice of pizza and coke, you now have to eat a banana and bagel. Same price, or maybe even a little more expensive, as healthier food is often a bit more expensive than the processed stuff. So not deductible. But if your banana extract is in concentrated pill form only available as a prescription or supplement, then it is deductible as long as you have the doctor's go-ahead. If you had to eat 10 bananas a day, then maybe 8 of them would be deductible, as 2 is probably the maximum you would normally eat otherwise, but then again it's bad for government to regulate these kinds of things, so I think the rule ought to be that it is not deductible period. Banana liquor is also a concentrated extract, but it is used in a social setting as well, so I have no idea what to do here. BTW, this is all just my common sense talking. I haven't looked at any rules or court cases :).
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