IRS Allows Deductions for Breastfeeding Expenses!

            Breastfeeding has many added benefits to the baby and the mother.  The benefits include quicker postpartum weight loss and reduced risk of breast cancer in the mother, and a reduced rate of illness in the baby.  As of early 2011, it can also save on taxes and healthcare costs!

            A new mother can spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on lactation supplies, including nursing bras, breast pads, breast pumps and pump parts.  Thanks to the new Internal Revenue Service rules, nursing mothers and their families now get a tax break for lactation supplies and breast pumps.  This ruling by the IRS means that families can use pre-tax funds from their flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts to cover these costs.

            If you don’t have a flexible health savings account, you can still take advantage of the tax break.  The cost of a breast pump is now tax deductible in the same way as other medical expenses, meaning they are deductible to the extent your medical expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.  Since most mothers have significant childbirth and pregnancy-related medical expenses, it’s not unlikely you will have already exceeded this threshold by the time you are ready to start purchasing or renting breast feeding supplies and equipment.

             Take the time to research this topic more on your own and plan to discuss this in more detail with your financial advisor.  For more information, please visit the following websites:

 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41512392/ns/health-womens_health/t/breastfeeding-pumps-now-deductible-irs-rules/

http://www.parenting.com/blogs/show-and-tell/melanie-parentingcom/irs-rules-breastfeeding-supplies-tax-deductible