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Can I claim the cost of gluten-free food on my return?

SOLVED•by TurboTax•17•Updated December 21, 2023

If you have celiac disease, you can claim the cost of your gluten-free food products minus the cost of similar gluten-containing products as part of your medical expense tax credit.

Generally, these food products must be made specifically for gluten-free diets. If you share the food with someone else, you can only claim the cost of the portion you consumed yourself. 

While you don’t need to submit any documents with your return, you’ll need to keep on hand: 

  • A letter from a medical practitioner certifying that you have celiac disease
  • A receipt for each gluten-free food product you claim
  • A financial summary of each food product

Enter your dietary expenses into TurboTax the same way you’d enter other medical expenses. Before beginning, make sure you've entered all your income information. TurboTax will use these details to automatically calculate the minimum medical expenses you need to enter and determine your eligibility for claiming a deduction.

  1. Select Find from the TurboTax menu.
  2. Enter medical expenses in the Find window.
  3. Select Medical Expenses Profile from the list of results.
  4. Select Go. Your Medical Profile appears.
  5. Select all checkboxes that apply, then select Continue.
  6. The Medical Expenses step appears. TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
  7. If the eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax, select Done, as there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit. Otherwise, select Enter New Medical Expense, and the Medical Expenses Receipt step appears.
  1. Fill out the form, then select Enter New Medical Expense, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
  2. Select Done.
  1. Fill out the form once by entering the total amount of the medical receipts.
  2. Select Done.
  3. Make sure the date entered is in the same tax year as your return.

Input eligible receipts, either individually or in a single amount, directly in the Medical Expenses form, and then complete the Dependant's Information worksheet and Medical Expense worksheet if applicable.

  1. Select Find from the TurboTax menu.
  2. Enter medical in the Find window.
  3. Select Medical expenses profile from the list of results, then Go.
  4. Select all the checkboxes that apply on Your medical profile, then select Continue.
  5. The Medical expenses step appears. TurboTax will display the minimum amount of eligible medical expenses required to generate a tax benefit.
  6. If the eligible medical expenses are less than the minimum amount displayed by TurboTax, select Done, because there aren't enough expenses to generate a tax credit. Otherwise, select Enter Expenses on return, and the Tax return: Medical Expenses form appears.
  1. Fill out the form, then select Enter Expenses on return, repeating this step until all receipts are entered.
  2. Select Done.
  1. Fill out the form once by entering the total amount of the medical receipts.
  2. Select Done.
  3. Make sure the date entered is in the same tax year as your return.
  4. The Medical expense summary appears. Review your information, and if more needs to be added, repeat the above steps. Once completed, select Done With Medical Expenses.

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