In 1962, the IRS allowed a taxpayer to deduct the cost of his son’s clarinet lessons because the lessons were recommended by the son’s orthodontist in order to fix the son’s overbite. This ruling stems from lobbying orthodontists that argued that playing the clarinet helps with a child’s overbite and therefore should qualify as a medical expense.
The IRS allowed the taxpayer to deduct the cost of the clarinet as well as the cost of the music lessons. But just remember, since it qualifies as a medical expense, it is subject to the same 10% limitation that all other medical expenses are subject to.