Is a wig tax deductible?

The three elements in the rule

The sentence in Pub 502 has three parts, and all of them matter. First, the wig must be bought upon the advice of a physician. Second, the advice must be for the mental health of the patient. Third, the patient must have lost all of their hair from disease. The publication does not say partial hair loss qualifies, so a wig for thinning hair or an unspecified loss does not match the text.

That is why a letter from the treating physician is the key document. It should say the wig was advised and why. Keep it with the receipt.

Related hair and appearance entries

Pub 502 treats appearance-driven procedures differently. Under Cosmetic Surgery it says you generally cannot include procedures directed at improving appearance that do not meaningfully promote the proper function of the body or prevent or treat illness. Hair transplants and hair removal (electrolysis) are named as examples of procedures you generally cannot include. Teeth whitening is excluded as well.

The exception to the cosmetic rule is surgery necessary to improve a deformity arising from a congenital abnormality, a personal injury from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease. The publication’s example is breast reconstruction after a mastectomy for cancer. That exception is written for surgery, so do not stretch it to a wig: the wig entry has its own conditions.

Counting it correctly

If the wig qualifies, include the amount you actually paid in the tax year and reduce it by any insurance or other reimbursement. If insurance pays part, what it pays comes off. An amount paid with a tax-free HSA distribution cannot be counted again.

Illustration with numbers

This is an illustration, not an example from the publication. A patient with total hair loss from a disease buys a wig for $1,200 on a physician’s written advice, and insurance reimburses $300. The includible cost is $900. With AGI of $60,000 the floor is $4,500. If other unreimbursed qualifying costs are $4,400, the total is $5,300 and the deduction is $800. Without the wig, the same year would have produced nothing.

Records and common mistakes

The physician’s written advice is the document that makes the wig a medical expense rather than a personal one, so ask for it at the time of purchase instead of after the year ends. It should be dated before or at the time you buy. Common mistakes are claiming a wig for hair loss that is not total or not caused by disease, deducting replacement or styling costs without reading the entry, and forgetting to subtract insurance reimbursements. The publication limits the rule to the cost of the wig itself, so salon and styling charges are not described by it. If you are unsure whether your situation matches the sentence, ask a CPA or enrolled agent before you claim it.

How the floor, timing and itemizing apply here

For a wig, 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: Are contact lenses tax deductible?, Is LASIK tax deductible?, Are vitamins and supplements 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 “Wig”, “Cosmetic Surgery”, “Hair Transplant” and “Teeth Whitening” 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.