Prescribed weight loss programs are tax deductible.

Tax and Weight Loss.

Weight Loss Programs are Tax Deductible:-

"You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay to lose weight if it is a treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease). This includes fees you pay to join a weight reduction group and attend periodic meetings. But you cannot include membership dues in a gym, health club, or spa." This is extracted from this IRS publication. The ruling is retroactive to 1998.

Deductible costs include:-

The initial fees to join a weight loss program
Additional fees to attend regular meetings in which participants develop diet plans, receive diet menus and literature and discuss problems encountered in dieting.
Bariatric surgery
FDA approved weight-loss drugs
Physician and hospital-based programs
Behavioral counseling
The services of physicians
dietitians and nutritionists as well as commercial-like programs which are specific for weight loss and maintenance.

Deductible costs do NOT include:-

Cost of diet foods (this is a personal expense)
The cost of enrollment in a weight loss program to improve appearance, general health or sense of well-being, rather than to treat a specific medical problem
Non prescription weight loss products
Nutritional Supplements
Any costs that are covered by insurance

The IRS specifically excludes:-
In this IRS publication the following is specifically excluded:-.
Weight-Loss Programs:-
You cannot include the cost of a weight-loss program in medical expenses if the purpose of the weight control is not treatment of a specific ailment or disease diagnosed by a physician, but rather to improve your appearance, your general health, or your sense of well-being. Also, you cannot include the cost of diet food items in medical expenses if the food is a substitute for the food you normally consume to satisfy your nutritional needs.
Non prescription Drugs and Medicines:-
Except for insulin, you cannot include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a drug that is not prescribed.
Nutritional Supplements:-
You cannot include in medical expenses the cost of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbal supplements, "natural medicines," etc., unless you can only obtain them legally with a physician's prescription.
Diet Foods:-
You cannot include the cost of diet food or beverages in medical expenses because that substitutes for what you normally consume to satisfy your nutritional needs. (You can include the cost of special food in medical expenses only if: 1. The food does not satisfy your normal nutritional needs, 2. The food alleviates or treats an illness, and 3. The need for the food is substantiated by a physician. The amount you can include in medical expenses is limited to the amount by which the cost of the special food exceeds the cost of a normal diet.) .

Internal Revenue agent to taxpayer: "We try to be lenient, sir, but we just can't allow this as a medical deduction in your tax form: '$50 to the tooth fairy'!" "George Washington never told a lie, but he never had Form 1040 to fill out either." - ANONYMOUS

Additional links and reading:-
	http://www.family.org/cforum/fnif/news/a0020320.html http://www.obesity.org/taxguide.htm http://www.quicken.com/cms/viewers/article/taxes/57416 http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Weight_Issues/