According to Newsweek, via Choices Campus Blog:
The IRS has ruled that a woman medically incapable of breast-feeding after a double mastectomy may not set aside the cost of infant formula as a pretax medical expense.
Dan Harrison, an executive at NBC Universal (whose wife had a double mastectomy before the birth of their child), was looking through a list of approved medical expenses under his flexible spending account provided by Ceridian, the company that manages his employee benefits. Flexible spending accounts allow taxpayers to set aside up to $5,000 per year as pretax income for medical expenses not covered by insurance.
Dr. Scholl’s footpads, sunscreen, birth control, and prescription sunglasses all qualify as medical care for the “diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment or prevention of disease,” according to the IRS. People with hearing impairments are allowed to include the cost of equipment to help them watch TV, and anyone who has lost a limb can count the cost of modifying a car as pretax income. Hypnosis, yoga, colon cleansing, massage, and even dancing lessons are also considered medical costs with a doctor’s note. However, infant formula for women medically unable to breast-feed because of breast cancer or HIV is nowhere on the list.
I can’t put it more succinctly than Choices did, IRS FAIL.
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