Can I claim a tax deduction for $5,500+ in medical expenses on my taxes?

Yes, you may be eligible to deduct those medical expenses, but there are some important things to know. Medical expenses are only deductible if you itemize deductions on Schedule A (rather than taking the standard deduction). For 2025, medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI) to be deductible. In your case: $29,286 × 7.5% = $2,196.45 Since your medical expenses ($5,502.96) exceed this threshold by about $3,306, you could potentially deduct that amount IF you itemize. However, you need to compare this with the standard deduction. For 2025, the standard deduction is $14,600 for single filers or $29,200 for married filing jointly. Unless your total itemized deductions (medical plus state/local taxes, mortgage interest, charitable contributions, etc.) exceed the standard deduction amount, you're better off taking the standard deduction.

After reading through this thread, I wanted to share my experience with medical expense deductions. I was in a similar situation last year with about $7k in medical bills and wasn't sure if I could claim them. I ended up using https://taxr.ai to review my documentation and determine my best tax strategy. Their system analyzed my medical receipts, insurance statements, and income docs, then showed me exactly what percentage was deductible and whether itemizing made sense in my situation. The tool broke down the 7.5% AGI threshold calculation and compared my potential itemized deduction vs. standard deduction scenarios side by side. Saved me tons of research time!

So I decided to try taxr.ai after being skeptical, and wow, it actually helped a ton with my medical expense situation! I uploaded all my hospital bills and prescription receipts, and it organized everything automatically. It showed me that while my $4,800 in medical bills exceeded the 7.5% AGI threshold, I was still better off taking the standard deduction. The best part was it showed exactly how much more I would need in total itemized deductions to make itemizing worthwhile. It even flagged some medical transportation costs I hadn't considered deductible! Definitely helped me understand my options better than the generic advice I was getting elsewhere.

If you're trying to get clear answers about your medical deduction situation, good luck getting through to the IRS these days. I spent literally WEEKS trying to reach them about a similar medical expense question last year. After wasting hours on hold, I found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 45 minutes! You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent walked me through exactly how to calculate my medical expense deduction threshold and confirmed that yes, you can deduct medical expenses even if you were on unemployment for part of the year. The unemployment income counts toward your AGI for calculating that 7.5% threshold.

OK I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try it for myself because I had some questions about my medical deductions that weren't getting answered online. I was SHOCKED when I got a call back in about 35 minutes saying an IRS agent was ready to talk to me. The agent confirmed that my specific medical procedures were deductible and explained exactly how to document them on my return. The best part was I got to ask follow-up questions when I didn't understand something, which was way more helpful than trying to interpret IRS publications by myself. Definitely less painful than my previous attempts to call them directly!

Something no one has mentioned yet - if you paid these medical bills with a credit card, what matters is WHEN you paid the bill, not when you received the medical service. So if any of those bills were from late 2024 but you paid them in 2025, they count toward your 2025 taxes, not 2024. Also, don't forget to include mileage to and from medical appointments! The rate is like 22 cents per mile for medical transportation in 2025. Might not sound like much but it adds up if you had a lot of appointments.

has anyone claimed medical deductions while also claiming the earned income credit? im in a similar situation with income around $26k and about $6k in medical expnses but worried about how this affects my EIC

I went through something similar last year and wanted to share what I learned about the timing aspect. Since you had income from three different sources (employment, unemployment, then employment again), make sure you're including ALL of it in your AGI calculation for the 7.5% threshold. One thing that caught me off guard - if any of your medical expenses were reimbursed by insurance AFTER you paid them, you'll need to subtract those reimbursements from your deductible amount. This includes any HSA or FSA reimbursements you might have received. Also, keep really good records of everything. The IRS tends to scrutinize medical deductions more closely, especially larger amounts like yours. I kept a spreadsheet with dates, providers, amounts, and what each expense was for. Made tax prep much smoother and gave me peace of mind in case of questions later. Given your income level and the amount of medical expenses, you might also want to look into whether you qualify for any healthcare-related tax credits in addition to the deduction question.