3 — Multiply AGI by 7.5% Updated for tax year 2025

What this line means

Line 2 (your AGI) multiplied by 0.075. This is the dollar threshold your medical expenses must exceed before you get any deduction. Only the amount on line 1 that exceeds this threshold is deductible. This floor prevents small, routine medical costs from becoming tax deductions.

Does this apply to you?

• Everyone claiming a medical expense deduction calculates this amount
• This is a simple multiplication: line 2 times 0.075

Easy to overlook

The 7.5% floor has been permanent since 2021 Congress made the 7.5% threshold permanent. It was scheduled to increase to 10%, but the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act kept it at 7.5%. There is no need to worry about which percentage applies — it is 7.5% for 2025 and the foreseeable future. ¹ [SOURCE: IRS Schedule A instructions — Line 3]

This floor applies to the total, not each expense individually You add up all qualifying medical expenses first (line 1), then subtract the 7.5% floor. You do not apply the floor to each expense separately. A $2,000 dental bill and a $3,000 surgery are combined to $5,000 before comparing against the threshold. ² [SOURCE: General filing pattern — medical expense threshold calculation]

Watch out for this

Skipping the medical deduction entirely because individual expenses seem small. The 7.5% test applies to the total of all medical expenses combined. Premiums, copays, prescriptions, dental, vision, therapy, and medical travel all count. Filers who add up every qualifying expense are often surprised to exceed the threshold.

Related lines on your return

• Line 2 — Schedule A — AGI from Form 1040 (the base for this calculation)
• Line 4 — Schedule A — The deductible amount (line 1 minus this line)
• Line 1 — Schedule A — Total medical and dental expenses