How much of your medical expenses can be deducted on taxes?

Taxpayers may deduct any qualifying medical expenses over 10 percent of their adjusted gross income when itemizing their deductions on a Form 1040, Schedule A, according to the Internal Revenue Service. If a taxpayer earned $50,000 in a year and paid $5,500 in medical expenses, he could claim $500.

As of 2015, qualifying medical expenses include payments to doctors, dentists, psychiatrists, psychologists and alternative medicine practitioners, states the IRS. Taxpayers may also claim expenses such as in-patient hospital care, nursing home services, acupuncture treatments, prescription drugs and many others listed on the IRS website. Over-the-counter medicines, toiletries, burial expenses, cosmetics and cosmetic surgery are not eligible for deduction.