Is oxygen tax deductible?

What the oxygen entry says

The entry is one sentence: amounts you pay for oxygen and oxygen equipment to relieve breathing problems caused by a medical condition. The condition is the key. Oxygen used for general wellness or sport is not described by the rule. Equipment is named together with oxygen, so the machine or tanks and what you pay to rent or operate them belong in the same line.

Pub 502 also treats related equipment generally. Medical expenses include the costs of equipment, supplies and diagnostic devices needed for treatment, and the publication has separate entries for items like a blood sugar test kit for diabetes, crutches, wheelchairs and artificial limbs.

Medicare, insurance and rentals

Home oxygen is often partly covered. The rule for reimbursements is firm: you reduce your total medical expenses by all reimbursements you receive from insurance or other sources during the year, including payments from Medicare. Only your out-of-pocket costs remain, such as copays and coinsurance, and supplier charges that coverage does not pay.

Electricity to run equipment is not named in the oxygen entry, so do not add a utility amount without checking with a tax professional.

Home modifications and travel

A home installation to support care is a different entry. Capital Expenses covers special equipment installed in a home or improvements whose main purpose is medical care, and the part that increases the value of the property is subtracted. Travel to appointments is included under the transportation rules, using actual costs or 21 cents a mile for 2025, plus parking and tolls.

Illustration with numbers

This is an illustration, not an example from the publication. AGI is $48,000, so the floor is $3,600. Oxygen supplier charges total $2,400 for the year and Medicare and a supplemental plan paid $1,300 of that, leaving $1,100. Prescription copays are $900 and doctor visits $1,400. The total is $3,400, which is below the floor, so the deduction is zero. With another $600 of unreimbursed dental costs the total would be $4,000 and the deduction $400.

Records and common mistakes

Keep the supplier’s invoices, the prescription or physician’s order, and the explanation of benefits showing what Medicare or your insurer paid. The usual mistakes are including the full supplier charge instead of the out-of-pocket amount, leaving out travel to appointments that qualifies under the transportation rules. If a family member lives with you and uses oxygen as your dependent, the expense is includible under the publication’s rules on whose expenses you can include. A person who is not your spouse or dependent is outside those rules, so check the dependent tests before claiming.

How the floor, timing and itemizing apply here

For oxygen, the same three rules from Publication 502 decide the final number. First, the deduction is only the part of your total medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, so a $1,000 cost does nothing until the year’s total passes the floor. Second, you include only what you paid during the tax year and were not reimbursed for, and you may include costs for yourself, your spouse and your dependents. Third, the deduction is claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), so it helps only if your itemized deductions add up to more than your standard deduction. Amounts paid with a tax-free health savings account distribution cannot be counted again, and pre-tax flexible spending arrangement reimbursements are excluded.

Related medical expense topics

More from the same IRS publication: Is a nursing home tax deductible?, Is lodging tax deductible?, Is LASIK tax deductible?. For a full calculation across all your expenses, use the medical expense deduction calculator, and see whether itemizing beats the standard deduction.

Sources

• IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses (2025): the “Oxygen”, “Capital Expenses” and “Transportation” entries, the 7.5% of AGI rule and the reimbursement rules. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: Publication 502 (2025), for use in preparing 2025 returns. Dollar limits and rates in this publication are for 2025; the publication notes that later legislation (P.L. 119-21) may affect federal deductions, so check the current publication and the Schedule A instructions for your tax year. This page summarizes the publication and does not replace it. Marked for human review.