Roughly 12% of adults within the U.S. take a GLP-1 drug like Ozempic, Mounjaro, Zepbound, or Wegovy, in keeping with the 2025 KFF Well being Monitoring ballot. However these blockbuster medicine can price greater than $1,000 per thirty days for sufferers who pay out of pocket. Even with insurance coverage, the month-to-month prices can exceed a number of hundred {dollars}.
You might be able to deduct GLP-1s as a medical expense out of your taxes, relying on why the medicine had been prescribed. However doing so could not truly cut back your tax invoice. Right here’s why.
Learn extra: Is medical insurance tax deductible? Right here’s what you’ll be able to declare.
Unreimbursed medical bills you incur for your self, your partner, and your dependents are sometimes tax deductible, however a number of caveats apply. Listed here are the principles.
You possibly can’t take the usual deduction
You possibly can solely deduct medical bills if you happen to itemize versus claiming the usual deduction. Itemizing will solely prevent cash in case your deductions add as much as greater than the usual deduction in your tax submitting standing. The usual deduction is $15,750 for single filers and $31,500 for married joint filers in 2025 (applies to returns due April 15, 2026). These quantities rise to $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married joint filers in 2026 (applies to returns due April 15, 2027).
The medical expense deduction solely applies to reimbursed prices above 7.5% of your adjusted gross revenue, or AGI. In different phrases, in case your revenue is $100,000 and also you had $12,000 in medical payments for the yr (excluding medical insurance premiums), you can solely deduct $4,500 in well being bills.
Healthcare prices are solely tax deductible in the event that they’re what the Inner Income Service (IRS) calls certified medical bills. Which means a licensed clinician prescribes them for the “analysis, treatment, mitigation, therapy, or prevention” of a illness. As we’ll talk about within the subsequent part, GLP-1 medicines can generally fall right into a grey space on this entrance.
Learn extra: Commonplace deduction vs. itemized: determine which tax submitting method is correct
The IRS will usually take into account GLP-1 medicines a certified medical expense that’s tax deductible if each of the next {qualifications} are true:
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A health care provider or one other medical supplier diagnoses you with a illness, AND
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A GLP-1 remedy like Wegovy or Ozempic is prescribed to deal with that illness.
In case your doctor prescribed a GLP-1 since you’ve been identified with kind 2 diabetes, that’s a reasonably clear-cut instance of when you’ll be able to deduct your unreimbursed prices — so long as you itemize and also you’re deducting bills above 7.5% of your AGI.
Likewise, in case your practitioner identified you as overweight and prescribed a GLP-1 that can assist you drop pounds, you can deduct the price as a result of the IRS accepts weight problems as a persistent medical situation. You may additionally be capable to deduct the expense in case your physician identified you with one other illness and prescribed a GLP-1 as a part of a weight-loss program geared toward treating it. For instance, if a practitioner identified you with hypertension and prescribed a GLP-1 that can assist you drop pounds and decrease your blood stress.
Medicines prescribed merely for weight reduction aren’t tax deductible. In case your physician prescribed a medicine as a result of they advocate shedding kilos to enhance your general well being, the expense isn’t tax deductible.
Weight-loss medicine prescribed by telehealth firms and stuffed by compounding pharmacies could fall into this grey space. Many provide GLP-1 prescriptions by a web-based session the place a licensed clinician evaluations your self-reported peak, weight, medical historical past, and well being targets. The prescriber determines if the drug is medically acceptable, however they normally aren’t diagnosing you. Your prices sometimes wouldn’t be tax deductible on this scenario since you didn’t incur them for illness therapy.
Learn extra: Tax credit score vs. tax deduction: Which is healthier?
You possibly can solely deduct unreimbursed medical bills. Which means in case your medical insurance or a affected person help program paid for a part of your GLP-1 prices, you’ll be able to solely deduct the portion that you simply paid for out of pocket.
Suppose you’re on a medicine that sometimes prices $1,000 a month, however your medical insurance pays many of the price, so that you’re solely chargeable for a $150 month-to-month co-pay. For those who itemize, you’ll be able to deduct your $150 co-pay as soon as your medical bills hit 7.5% of your AGI for the yr ($1,800 complete if you happen to paid that quantity every month for your complete yr). However you’ll be able to’t deduct the complete $1,000 month-to-month price of the remedy.
Learn extra: Paying money for healthcare might aid you lower your medical payments
You possibly can pay for weight-loss medicines along with your well being financial savings account (HSA) or healthcare versatile spending account (FSA) — however provided that they’re used to deal with a selected illness. For those who’re taking the drug solely for weight reduction with no medical analysis, you gained’t be capable to pay along with your HSA or FSA or search reimbursement out of your account.
You possibly can’t deduct any expense that you simply pay for with an HSA or FSA. Since you’re not taxed on cash you contribute to both kind of account, you don’t get one other tax deduction whenever you use these funds for well being prices.
It’s possible you’ll must receive a letter of medical necessity out of your supplier to get reimbursed for GLP-1s out of your account. The letter ought to embody your analysis, prescribed therapy, and the way it will enhance your prognosis. The doc can be useful in case you’re audited.
Learn extra: HSA contribution limits for 2025 and 2026: Right here’s how a lot it can save you
Itemizing deductions solely is sensible in case your tax write-offs are larger than the usual deduction — and about 90% of taxpayers take the usual deduction as a substitute of itemizing. As you put together your return, you’d must have deductions totaling at the very least $15,750 if you happen to’re single or $31,500 if you happen to’re a married joint filer to economize by itemizing.
For those who qualify for a lot of extra deductions, like write-offs for mortgage curiosity and state and native taxes, it’s potential that GLP-1s and different medical bills might tip the scales in favor of itemizing. However remember that the primary 7.5% of your AGI that goes towards medical payments isn’t tax deductible. Even in years when you will have important healthcare prices, taking the usual deduction usually yields higher tax financial savings.
For a lot of taxpayers whose insurance coverage meets the factors for a high-deductible well being plan, funding an HSA and utilizing it to pay for GLP-1 medicines and different medical prices usually saves extra money on taxes. You contribute pretax funds, and withdrawals are additionally tax-free.
In 2026, you’ll be able to contribute as much as $4,400 when you’ve got single protection or $8,750 for household protection. So when you’ve got a person plan, you can max out the account for the yr and decrease your taxable revenue by $4,400. You could possibly then withdraw these funds tax-free to pay for GLP-1s and different well being prices — or you can let the funds roll over from yr to yr, for the reason that cash stays with you even if you happen to swap plans.
Learn extra: Free tax submitting: file your 2025 return at no cost
GLP-1s are a medical expense that you would be able to deduct in your taxes in the event that they’re prescribed to deal with a well being situation you’ve been identified with, like diabetes, weight problems, or coronary heart illness. For those who had been prescribed the remedy since you need to drop pounds, however it’s not getting used to deal with a selected illness, you’ll be able to’t deduct the price for tax functions.
You might be able to write off Ozempic for weight reduction in case your supplier prescribed it to deal with a selected illness, like weight problems, diabetes, fatty liver illness, or hypertension. Nonetheless, if the remedy was prescribed that can assist you drop pounds for beauty causes or to enhance your general well being, it’s not tax-deductible.
Fitness center membership charges aren’t tax-deductible, however you might be able to deduct the price of collaborating in a weight-loss program at a health club if it’s geared toward treating a identified illness.
