Tax Perks for Celiac Disease

For anyone with Celiac Disease you get use to people telling you no.  NO, you can't eat this.NO, you can't eat that. NO, we can't make your entree gluten-free.  The same holds true with filing your taxes. NO you can't claim your pets as kids.  NO you can't deduct your family vacation as mental medical therapy.

But now having Celiac Disease gives you a big YES! The IRS publication 502 allows person's with Celiac Disease or those caring for a person with Celiac Disease to deduct the cost of Gluten-Free (GF) food that is in EXCESS of the cost of the gluten containing food that you are replacing.  For example: if your gluten-free cereal costs $5.00 and the regular flour containing counterpart costs $2.50, you can deduct the difference of the two ($2.50).   For specialty items that do not have a regular flour containing counterpart (i.e. Xathan Gum) you can deduct the full amount of the specialty item.

Here's another YES!  You can deduct transportation costs. If you make a special trip to a specialty store to purchase GF foods, the actual cost of your transportation to and from the store is deductible. If you used your vehicle for the trip during the year 2010, you may deduct 16.5 cents per mile for 2010. If you use your vehicle for this purpose during 2011, you may deduct 19 cents per mile. You may include tolls and parking fees.

And finally, Yes you can deduct the full cost of postage or other delivery expenses for GF foods made by mail.

Click here for a worksheet to help keep track of your gluten-free purchases, mileage and product replaced to help you begin tracking all of your YES' for next year's taxes.