IRS Revenue Ruling
2002-19

Code Secs. 213, 262

<<FULL TEXT>>

26 CFR 1.213-1: Medical, Dental, etc., Expenses.
(Also section 262; 1.262-1.)

Medical expenses. Uncompensated amounts paid by individuals for
participation in a weight-loss program as treatment for a specific disease
or diseases (including obesity) diagnosed by a physician are expenses for
medical care under section 213 of the Code. The cost of purchasing diet
food items is not deductible under section 213 of the Code.


REV. RUL. 2002-19

ISSUE

Are uncompensated amounts paid by individuals for participation in a
weight-loss program as treatment for a specific disease or ailment
(including obesity) diagnosed by a physician and for diet food items
expenses for medical care that are deductible under section 213 of the
Internal Revenue Code?


FACTS

Taxpayer A is diagnosed by a physician as obese. A does not suffer from
any other specific disease. Taxpayer B is not obese but suffers from
hypertension. B has been directed by a physician to lose weight as
treatment for the hypertension.

A and B participate in the X weight-loss program. A and B are required
to pay an initial fee to join X and an additional fee to attend periodic
meetings. At the meetings participants develop a diet plan, receive diet
menus and literature, and discuss problems encountered in dieting. A and B
also purchase X brand reduced-calorie diet food items. Neither A's nor B's
costs are compensated by insurance or otherwise.


LAW

Section 213(a) allows a deduction for uncompensated expenses for
medical care of an individual, the individual's spouse or a dependent, to
the extent the expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.
Section 213(d)(1) provides, in part, that medical care means amounts paid
for the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease,
or for the purpose of affecting any structure or function of the body.

Under section 1.213-1(e)(1)(ii) of the Income Tax Regulations, the
deduction for medical care expenses will be confined strictly to expenses
incurred primarily for the prevention or alleviation of a physical or
mental defect or illness. An expense that is merely beneficial to the
general health of an individual is not an expense for medical care.
Whether an expenditure is primarily for medical care or is merely
beneficial to general health is a question of fact.

Section 262 provides that, except as otherwise expressly provided by
the Code, no deduction is allowed for personal, living, or family
expenses.

Rev. Rul. 79-151 (1979-1 C.B. 116) holds that a taxpayer who
participates in a weight reduction program to improve the taxpayer's
appearance, general health, and sense of well-being, and not to cure a
specific ailment or disease, may not deduct the cost as a medical expense
under section 213.

Rev. Rul. 55-261 (1955-1 C.B. 307) holds that medical care includes the
cost of special food if (1) the food alleviates or treats an illness, (2)
it is not part of the normal nutritional needs of the taxpayer, and (3)
the need for the food is substantiated by a physician. However, special
food that is a substitute for the food the taxpayer normally consumes and
that satisfies the taxpayer's nutritional needs is not medical care.


ANALYSIS

Amounts paid for the primary purpose of treating a disease are
deductible as medical care. Obesity is medically accepted to be a disease
in its own right. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, part of
the National Institutes of Health, describes obesity as a "complex,
multifactorial chronic disease." Clinical Guidelines on the
Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in
Adults (1998), page vii. This report is based on an evaluation by a panel
of health professionals of scientific evidence published from 1980 to
1997.

Other government and scientific entities have reached similar
conclusions. For example, in a preamble to final regulations the Food and
Drug Administration states "obesity is a disease." 65 Fed. Reg. 1027, 1028
(Jan. 6, 2000). The World Health Organization states that "[o]besity is
now well recognized as a disease in its own right . . .." Press Release 46
(June 12, 1997).

In the present case, a physician has diagnosed A as suffering from a
disease, obesity. Therefore, the cost of A's participation in the X
weight-loss program as treatment for A's obesity is an amount paid for
medical care under section 213(d)(1). Although B is not suffering from
obesity, B's participation in X is part of the treatment for B's
hypertension. Therefore, B's cost of participating in the program is also
an amount paid for medical care. A and B may deduct under section 213
(subject to the limitations of that section) the fees to join the program
and to attend periodic meetings. These situations are distinguishable from
the facts of Rev. Rul. 79-151, in which the taxpayer was not suffering
from any specific disease or ailment and participated in a weight-loss
program merely to improve the taxpayer's general health and appearance.
However, A and B may not deduct any portion of the cost of purchasing
reduced-calorie diet foods because the foods are substitutes for the food
A and B normally consume and satisfy their nutritional requirements.


HOLDING

Uncompensated amounts paid by individuals for participation in a
weight-loss program as treatment for a specific disease or diseases
(including obesity) diagnosed by a physician are expenses for medical care
that are deductible under section 213, subject to the limitations of that
section. The cost of purchasing diet food items is not deductible under
section 213.


EFFECT ON OTHER DOCUMENTS

Rev. Rul. 79-151 and Rev. Rul. 55-261 are distinguished.


CONTACT INFORMATION

For further information regarding this revenue ruling, contact John T.
Sapienza, Jr., at (202) 622-7900 (not a toll-free call).

<<END RULING>>

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