Is Bus Fare Deductible? Mom Took Public Transportation to 35 Doctor Visits - Need Receipts to Claim Medical Travel?

You're on the right track! Medical transportation costs are indeed deductible as part of medical expenses if you itemize deductions on Schedule A. The IRS does understand that not all transportation methods provide detailed receipts. For public transportation used to get to and from medical appointments, you need to show: 1) the medical appointments actually occurred, and 2) a reasonable basis for the transportation costs claimed. Your plan to print out the appointment history from the healthcare provider covers the first requirement perfectly. For the second part, documentation of the standard fare rates in your city should be sufficient. The IRS doesn't expect the impossible - they know bus and subway systems often don't provide individualized receipts. Keep in mind that medical expenses are only deductible to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your mother's adjusted gross income (AGI).

I wanted to share my experience with this exact situation! Last year I had weekly physical therapy appointments and used public transit for all of them. I was stressing about not having bus receipts too until I found a lifesaver tool at https://taxr.ai that helped me organize all my medical deductions properly. I uploaded my appointment records and the local transit fare information, and it created a complete documentation package showing how the transportation costs directly related to necessary medical care. It even calculated exactly how much I could claim based on the 7.5% AGI threshold. Made the whole process so much simpler than trying to figure it out myself.

I was really skeptical about using an online service for my tax documentation, but after trying https://taxr.ai I'm actually impressed. I had a similar situation with my father's medical transportation costs with no receipts, and the documentation package it created was accepted without any issues when we filed. The system helped me properly document not just the appointments but also created a mileage and transportation log that established a clear pattern of medical necessity. My accountant said it was exactly what we needed to substantiate the deduction properly!

If you're having trouble getting through to the IRS to confirm whether your documentation is sufficient, I highly recommend using https://claimyr.com to get connected to an actual IRS agent without the endless hold times. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I was trying for WEEKS to get an answer about medical transportation deductions and kept getting disconnected. Claimyr got me through to an IRS representative in under 20 minutes who confirmed that appointment records plus documentation of public transit fares is perfectly acceptable. Saved me so much stress and uncertainty!

Ok I need to eat my words and apologize to @19. I was so frustrated after spending HOURS trying to get through to the IRS about my medical expense questions that I lashed out. I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort and IT ACTUALLY WORKED. Got through to an IRS agent in about 25 minutes who confirmed that for public transportation to medical appointments, having the appointment records plus documentation of standard fares is completely acceptable. They said they understand not everyone can get individual receipts for every bus or subway ride. The agent specifically said "we're reasonable about this kind of documentation.

Just a tip from someone who went through a medical transportation audit - create a simple spreadsheet showing: - Date of each appointment - Doctor/facility name - Medical purpose of visit - Transportation method - Cost each way - Total cost Print this out along with your appointment records and the fare documentation. This makes it super clear and organized if you ever get questioned. My mom had over 40 medical appointments in 2022, and this approach worked perfectly.

Remember that medical expenses including transportation are only deductible if you itemize AND they exceed 7.5% of your AGI. So if your mom's AGI is $40,000, only medical expenses over $3,000 would be deductible. Do the math first to see if it's even worth the effort!

Great advice from everyone here! I'd also recommend checking if your mom's city has a transit app or website that might show her card transaction history. Some transit systems now keep records of tap-in/tap-out data that you can access online, even if you didn't think to save receipts at the time. Also, don't forget that if she had to pay for parking at any medical facilities during those other 4 visits with rideshare, those parking fees are also deductible medical expenses. Sometimes people overlook the small additional costs that add up. The documentation approach everyone's suggesting is solid - the IRS really does understand that public transit doesn't always provide individual receipts. Your appointment records plus the standard fare documentation should be more than sufficient to support the deduction.