Are Health Club Membership Fees a
Deductible Medical Expense?
The following Rev. Rule. 2002-19 provides
clear guidelines as to which taxpayers may be eligible for health club expenses
– also may apply for refunds for health club expenses paid during the past 3
years.
Rev. Rule. 2002-19
Section 213 -- Medical, Dental, etc.,
Expenses
26 CFR 1.213-1: Medical, Dental, etc.,
Expenses. (Also § 262; 1.262-1.)
Are uncompensated amounts paid
by individuals for participation in a weight- loss program as treatment for a
specific disease or ailment (including obesity) diagnosed by a physician and
for diet food items expenses for medical care that are deductible under § 213
of the Internal Revenue Code?
Taxpayer A is diagnosed by a
physician as obese. A does not suffer from any other specific disease. Taxpayer
B is not obese but suffers from hypertension. B has been directed by a
physician to lose weight as treatment for the hypertension.
A and B participate in the X
weight-loss program. A and B are required to pay an initial fee to join X and
an additional fee to attend periodic meetings. At the meetings participants
develop a diet plan, receive diet menus and literature, and discuss problems
encountered in dieting. A and B also purchase B brand reduced-calorie diet food
items. Neither A's nor B's costs are compensated by insurance or otherwise.
Section 213(a) allows a
deduction for uncompensated expenses for medical care of an individual, the
individual's spouse or a dependent, to the extent the expenses exceed 7.5
percent of adjusted gross income. Section 213(d)(1) provides, in part, that
medical care means amounts paid for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment,
or prevention of disease, or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function
of the body.
Under § 1.213-1(e)(1)(ii) of
the Income Tax Regulations, the deduction for medical care expenses will be
confined strictly to expenses incurred primarily for the prevention or
alleviation of a physical or mental defect or illness. An expense that is
merely beneficial to the general health of an individual is not an expense for
medical care. Whether an expenditure is primarily for medical care or is merely
beneficial to general health is a question of fact.
Section 262 provides that, except
as otherwise expressly provided by the Code, no deduction is allowed for
personal, living, or family expenses.
Rev. Rul. 79-151, 1979-1 C.B.
116, holds that a taxpayer who participates in a weight reduction program to
improve the taxpayer's appearance, general health, and sense of well-being, and
not to cure a specific ailment or disease, may not deduct the cost as a medical
expense under § 213.
Rev. Rul. 55-261, 1955-1 C.B.
307, holds that medical care includes the cost of special food if (1) the food
alleviates or treats an illness, (2) it is not part of the normal nutritional
needs of the taxpayer, and (3) the need for the food is substantiated by a
physician. However, special food that is a substitute for the food the taxpayer
normally consumes and that satisfies the taxpayer's nutritional needs is not
medical care.
Amounts paid for the primary
purpose of treating a disease are deductible as medical care. Obesity is
medically accepted to be a disease in its own right. The National Heart, Lung,
and Blood Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, describes
obesity as a "complex, multifactorial chronic disease." Clinical
Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and
Obesity in Adults (1998), page vii. This report is based on an evaluation by a
panel of health professionals of scientific evidence published from 1980 to
1997.
Other government and
scientific entities have reached similar conclusions. For example, in a
preamble to final regulations the Food and Drug Administration states
"obesity is a disease." 65 Fed. Reg. 1027, 1028 (Jan. 6, 2000). The
World Health Organization states that "[o]besity is now well recognized as
a disease in its own right ...." Press Release 46 (June 12, 1997).
In the present case, a
physician has diagnosed A as suffering from a disease, obesity. Therefore, the
cost of A's participation in the X weight-loss program as treatment for A's
obesity is an amount paid for medical care under § 213(d)(1). Although B is not
suffering from obesity, B's participation in X is part of the treatment for B's
hypertension. Therefore, B's cost of participating in the program is also an
amount paid for medical care. A and B may deduct under § 213 (subject to the
limitations of that section) the fees to join the program and to attend
periodic meetings. These situations are distinguishable from the facts of Rev.
Rul. 79-151, in which the taxpayer was not suffering from any specific disease
or ailment and participated in a weight-loss program merely to improve the
taxpayer's general health and appearance. However, A and B may not deduct any
portion of the cost of purchasing reduced-calorie diet foods because the foods
are substitutes for the food A and B normally consume and satisfy their nutritional
requirements.
HOLDING
Uncompensated amounts paid by
individuals for participation in a weight-loss program as treatment for a
specific disease or diseases (including obesity) diagnosed by a physician are
expenses for medical care that are deductible under § 213, subject to the
limitations of that section. The cost of purchasing diet food items is not
deductible under § 213.
Rev. Rul. 79-151 and Rev. Rul.
55-261 are distinguished.
