Diapers Q&A

Do daily trips to the hospital to help care for a chronically ill infant count as medical miles?

I have a 5 month old infant that was hospitalized for a month. Obvoisly transporting the infant to the hospital counts as medical miles, but does the dailly travel to visit and care for the infant also count as medical miles. Care includes feeding, diapers, medical procedures that would routinely happen in the home, learn how to do new medical procedures for when the infant returns home and to learn how to use new medical equipment that will be used in the home.

Public Comments

1. Yes, you can include miles driven to the facility that is caring for your infant. Any equipment you purchase that's required for caring for your infant must be prescribed by a doctor in order to be deductible.
2. I think that your transportation expenses would qualify as use of a car for "medical reasons." This is directly from the IRS website: Car expenses. You can include out-of-pocket expenses, such as the cost of gas and oil, when you use a car for medical reasons. You cannot include depreciation, insurance, general repair, or maintenance expenses. If you do not want to use your actual expenses, for 2006 you can use a standard rate of 18 cents a mile for use of a car for medical reasons. You can also include parking fees and tolls. You can add these fees and tolls to your medical expenses whether you use actual expenses or use the standard mileage rate.