taxes and breastfeeding supplies

HisChamaoleGirl · January 2014

Ok, I keep hearingthat breastfeeding mothers can claim pumping items for their taxes. This isn't a new thing so I am wondering if anyone here has actually done it and what actually was able to be claimed.

hoffse · January 2014

If it is deductible, it will probably be deductible as a medical expense. And I'm pretty sure that to deduct any medical expenses, the grand total has to be more then 7.5% of your gross income in a given year. And then you deduct anything over that. You also have to itemize - which means that all of your deductions together have to be over the standard deduction. Most people don't hit that unless they own a house and can deduct their mortgage interest payments and property taxes.

Depending on the insurance you have, you may or may not hit that 7.5% threshold in a year in which you give birth. I'm pretty sure insurance premiums are not deductible - though somebody can correct me on that if they've ever successfully deducted them.

Take this info with a grain of salt - I've never itemized (I don't own a house), so I've never deducted medical expenses before. I do think a breast pump counts, but I it would have to be deducted along with a bunch of other things too to work.

EDIT: that should read "adjusted gross income," not "gross income." AGI is a little lower, but it's still a pretty high threshold for a lot of people.

HisChamaoleGirl · January 2014

Hmmmm I'll have to look into that since we don't pay insurance premiums (active duty) but we do itemize since we own a home. Thanks for the info.

hoffse · January 2014

I don't think insurance premiums can be deducted, even if you do pay them. I might be wrong about that, but I don't think they qualify as a medical expense, since it's not paying for treatment or equipment.

Yeah it's a pretty high amount. If you didn't pay much out of pocket for delivery, it's unlikely you will hit the 7.5% threshold.

hoffse · January 2014

Ok out of curiosity I'm reading some regs on it. It looks like the 7.5% is for people 65 or older... the rest of us have to hit 10%. That sucks.

It looks like premiums for long-term care are deductible; but some subsidized premiums aren't.

And apparently false teeth are deductible but nicotine patches are not. The IRS is ridiculous.

MoreThanABride · January 2014

I agree with the others about the medical deduction being hard to use, but the fact is that breastfeeding supplies are tax deductible. I tested it out by sending a receipt for breast pads in to my medical flex spending account and it was approved.

Ducktale · January 2014

The only thing I've heard is that you can pay for breast feeding supplies with an FSA, to which you can make pre-tax contributions

smerka · January 2014

The amount deductible changed to 10% last year because of the ACA. Breastfeeding supplies fall into that category along with insurance premiums IF you pay them out of pocket, if you have insurance through your employer, they typically take the premiums out pre-tax and you can't double dip.

vlagrl29 · January 2014

we can deduct our insurance premiums and do it every year. we also have an HSA. I would do it thru an HSA/FSA because the deduction is so much better than claiming it on your basic tax return

taxes and breastfeeding supplies

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