Rev. Rul. 62-189

Advice has been requested whether the cost of a wig acquired for a daughter who has lost all of her hair as a result of disease is deductible as a medical expense.

In the instant case the taxpayer's daughter was afflicted with a disease which, in a few years, caused her to lose all of her hair, including her eyebrows and eyelashes. This condition was having a marked effect upon her mental health. The taxpayer sought the advice of her doctor, and the doctor prescribed a wig in the belief that it would be essential to her mental health. On the basis of such advice, the taxpayer purchased a wig for her.

Section 213(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 allows as a deduction expenses paid during the taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, for medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent, subject to certain limitations.

Section 1.213-1(e)(1)(ii) of the Income Tax Regulations provides, in part, that deductions for expenditures for medical care allowable under section 213 will be confined strictly to expenses incurred primarily for the prevention or alleviation of a physical or mental defect or illness.

The facts in the instant case are distinguishable from those underlying the conclusion reached in item 16 of Revenue Ruling 55-261, C.B. 1955-1, 307, at page 312, in which it was held that wigs and other named items are personal expenses. Such conclusion is applicable where the facts disclose that the expenditures for such items are made for the preservation of general health or for the alleviation of physical or mental discomfort which is unrelated to some particular disease or defect. In the instant case, however, the daughter's doctor had advised that the wig was essential to her mental health.

Accordingly, it is held that where a taxpayer has been advised by a physician that a wig is essential to the mental health of his daughter who has lost all of her hair, the taxpayer may deduct the cost of the wig as a medical expense, subject to the limitations prescribed in section 213 of the Code.

Revenue Ruling 55-261, item 16, C.B. 1955-1, 307 at 312, distinguished.