Is Medical itemization worth it for 2025 taxes?
So I'm trying to figure out if medical itemization makes sense for me this year. My health has been up and down and I've racked up about $8,200 in medical expenses (hospital bills, prescriptions, specialists, etc). My AGI is roughly $72,000 and I know there's some threshold where you can only deduct expenses above a certain percentage of your income. From what I understand, I'd need to itemize rather than take the standard deduction, but I'm not sure if the math works out in my favor. I'm single, no dependents. I don't have a ton of other potential deductions - maybe $5,400 in mortgage interest and $3,100 in state/local taxes. Would appreciate any insights on whether it's even worth pursuing the medical itemization route or if I should just stick with the standard deduction. The whole process seems complicated and I'm worried I'll mess something up.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
The medical expense deduction can be tricky. Currently, you can only deduct unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your AGI. In your case, with a $72,000 AGI, you'd need medical expenses over $5,400 (7.5% of $72,000) to start seeing any benefit - so only $2,800 of your $8,200 would be deductible. When deciding whether to itemize, you need to compare your total itemized deductions against the standard deduction. For 2025, assuming you're single, the standard deduction is projected to be around $13,850. Adding up your potential itemized deductions: $2,800 (medical) + $5,400 (mortgage interest) + $3,100 (SALT) = $11,300, which is still less than the standard deduction.
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Caleb Bell
•Thanks for the breakdown! Quick question - can I include the premiums I pay for health insurance in that medical expense total? Also, what about mileage driving to doctors appointments? I've had a lot of those this year.
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Kaitlyn Jenkins
•Yes, you can include health insurance premiums if you paid them with after-tax dollars (not through a pre-tax employer plan). Those premiums definitely count toward your medical expenses total. You can absolutely claim mileage for medical appointments too. For 2025, the medical mileage rate is expected to be around 22 cents per mile. Don't forget to track your parking fees and tolls for medical visits as well - those are fully deductible medical expenses.
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Danielle Campbell
After fighting through a similar medical expense situation last year, I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) and it literally saved me hours of confusion. I uploaded all my medical receipts and insurance statements, and it automatically categorized which expenses were deductible and calculated the threshold amount for me. The interface shows you in real-time whether itemizing makes sense based on your specific situation.
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Rhett Bowman
•Does it handle HSA contributions too? Like can it tell me which expenses I should use my HSA for versus which ones I should pay out of pocket to maximize potential deductions?
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Abigail Patel
•How accurate is it though? I've tried other tax tools before and they missed some deductions my accountant caught. Would hate to leave money on the table just for convenience.
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Danielle Campbell
•It absolutely handles HSA contributions and helps you optimize which expenses to pay from HSA vs out-of-pocket. The system shows you the tax implications of different scenarios so you can make the best choice for your situation. The accuracy has been impressive in my experience. It identifies deductible expenses based on IRS rules and even flags potential audit triggers. What's great is that when you upload documentation, it extracts the relevant information and applies current tax rules directly - no generic advice that might miss your specific situation.
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Abigail Patel
Just wanted to follow up about my taxr.ai experience. I was skeptical as I mentioned, but gave it a try with my pile of medical receipts from multiple providers. It caught something I completely missed - some dental procedures I had were partially medical in nature and qualified for a higher deduction than I realized. In my case, it confirmed I was still better off with the standard deduction, but at least I know for sure and didn't leave money on the table. The receipt processing saved me from manually entering dozens of expenses too.
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Daniel White
If you're dealing with extensive medical issues, you might also want to call the IRS directly to ask about specific deductions for your situation. I know reaching them is a nightmare though - I was on hold for 4+ hours before giving up. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) and watched their demo (https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c). They got me connected to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes who walked me through some complex medical deduction questions.
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Nolan Carter
•How does that even work? The IRS phone system is literally designed to be impenetrable. What's the catch with this service?
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Natalia Stone
•Yeah right. Nothing can get through to the IRS during tax season. This sounds like magical thinking at best or a scam at worst. Did you actually get useful info or just generic stuff you could find online?
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Daniel White
•The service uses a combination of technology to navigate the IRS phone tree and secures your place in line. It's basically like having someone wait on hold for you until an agent is available, then it calls you to connect. I got very specific information about my situation. The agent explained exactly which of my specialized treatments qualified as deductible and which didn't. She also told me about a form I needed to include for one particular expense that I never would have known about otherwise. It was definitely not generic advice - we discussed the specifics of my medical treatments and documentation requirements.
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Natalia Stone
OK I have to eat my words here. After my skeptical comment, I tried Claimyr out of desperation because I had a complicated question about deducting my spouse's medical expenses (we file separately due to income-based student loan repayment). Got through to an IRS rep in about 15 minutes who explained exactly how to handle our situation. Turns out I was about to make a mistake that would have cost us over $1,200. So yeah, it actually works.
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Tasia Synder
Something else to consider - if your income might be lower next year or medical expenses higher, it might be worth bunching your medical procedures. I had a bunch of dental work that I could schedule either in December or January, and my tax guy suggested pushing everything to January since I knew I'd have additional medical expenses that year too. Ended up being able to itemize and save about $700 by bunching two years of medical expenses into one tax year.
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Sydney Torres
•That's a really smart approach I hadn't considered. I do have some procedures I've been putting off that aren't urgent. If I bundle everything together in one tax year, that might push me over the threshold where itemizing makes sense. Did you find it complicated to coordinate the timing with your providers?
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Tasia Synder
•It wasn't too difficult to coordinate with providers. Most medical offices are used to patients timing procedures for insurance reasons anyway, so they didn't bat an eye when I asked to schedule in January instead of December. Just make sure you're clear about your timing needs when scheduling. And keep in mind that some procedures might have wait times, so plan ahead. Also, don't let tax considerations override medical necessity - if you need something urgently, get it done regardless of the tax implications.
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Selena Bautista
Don't forget about dependent care! If you're paying medical expenses for a qualifying dependent (like a parent), those count too even if they don't live with you. Helped me reach the threshold last year when my mom had some major expenses and I was her primary support person.
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Mohamed Anderson
•What qualifies someone as a dependent for medical expense purposes? My dad lives with me and I pay most of his bills, but he gets social security. Does that disqualify him?
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