Scrubs are tax deductible only if you’re self-employed in healthcare. If you work as an independent contractor, sole proprietor, or otherwise file a Schedule C, you can deduct scrubs and their cleaning costs as an ordinary business expense. If you’re a W-2 employee, you cannot deduct them on your federal return — that write-off was suspended in 2018 and permanently repealed by legislation signed in mid-2025.
Self-Employed: Claim Scrubs on Schedule C
For self-employed healthcare workers, scrubs are an ordinary and necessary business expense reported on Schedule C.1Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss From Business An expense is “ordinary” if it’s common in your line of work and “necessary” if it’s helpful and appropriate for the business. Medical scrubs clear both bars without controversy.
The expense typically goes in Part V of Schedule C (Other Expenses) under a plain description like “Uniforms” or “Work clothing and laundering,” and the total flows into the main expense section of the form. Related costs ride along with the scrubs themselves: professional laundering, dry cleaning, alterations, and embroidery such as adding a practice name all qualify.
The deduction is valuable because it sits above the line on your business return. It reduces your net business income before both income tax and self-employment tax are calculated. Self-employment tax runs 15.3% — 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare — so every legitimate dollar of scrub expense saves you roughly 15 cents in self-employment tax alone, on top of your income tax savings.2Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
Lower Schedule C income can also help with the Qualified Business Income deduction under Section 199A, which lets eligible self-employed taxpayers deduct up to 20% of qualified business income. Scrubs alone won’t move that number much, but they’re part of the cumulative total that shapes your QBI benefit and keeps you below phase-out thresholds.3Internal Revenue Service. Qualified Business Income Deduction
One caution if you wash scrubs at home and also claim a home office. Form 8829 already allocates a share of household utilities, including the electricity your washer and dryer use, to business use. Deducting those same utility dollars again as a separate laundering expense on Schedule C is double-counting. Pick one path: either let the home office form cover utilities and limit your separate uniform expense to detergent, bleach, and professional cleaning, or skip the home office allocation for utilities and include a reasonable utility share for laundering directly on Schedule C.
W-2 Employees: The Federal Deduction Is Gone
Before 2018, employees could deduct unreimbursed work expenses, including uniforms, as a miscellaneous itemized deduction on Schedule A, subject to a 2%-of-AGI floor. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act suspended that whole category through the end of 2025. Many healthcare workers assumed it would come back in 2026.
It won’t. The reconciliation legislation signed in mid-2025 permanently repealed miscellaneous itemized deductions, including all unreimbursed employee business expenses. Even if your scrubs perfectly meet the IRS uniform definition, you cannot claim them on your federal return as a W-2 employee.
A narrow set of employees can still deduct limited unreimbursed expenses on Form 2106: armed forces reservists, fee-basis state or local government officials, performing artists meeting specific income thresholds, and eligible educators. The educator above-the-line deduction for classroom supplies rises to $350 for 2026. A nurse, surgical tech, or dental hygienist employed by a hospital or practice doesn’t fall into any of these categories.4Internal Revenue Service. Publication 529 (12/2020), Miscellaneous Deductions
Ask Your Employer to Reimburse
Since the federal deduction is off the table, employer reimbursement is now the only way to recover scrub costs tax-free as an employee. How that reimbursement is taxed depends on how your employer structures it.
Under an accountable plan, the reimbursement stays out of your taxable wages and never appears in Box 1 of your W-2. To qualify, the plan must meet three conditions: the expense has a business connection, you provide documentation to your employer within 60 days, and you return any excess reimbursement within 120 days.5Internal Revenue Service. Publication 463, Travel, Gift, and Car Expenses
A nonaccountable arrangement — say, a flat uniform allowance added to your paycheck with no receipts required — gets treated as taxable wages. You owe income and payroll taxes on the money, and you can’t offset those taxes with a deduction, because the employee deduction no longer exists. Pushing your employer toward an accountable plan matters: under one, neither side pays payroll taxes on the amount, and the reimbursement is deductible for the employer as a business expense.
Check Your State Return
Federal repeal doesn’t automatically control state tax treatment. Roughly eight states have not conformed to the federal elimination of unreimbursed employee business expenses and still allow employees to claim these costs at the state level. Procedures vary.
Some states that appear to decouple actually limit the deduction to the same narrow employee categories (reservists, performing artists, fee-basis officials) that still qualify federally, which leaves most healthcare workers in the same place as on their federal return. Check your current state income tax instructions before assuming the deduction is available.
What Actually Counts as a Deductible Uniform
Qualifying work clothing has to pass two tests under IRS rules: it must be required for your work, and it must not be suitable for everyday wear outside the job. A business suit might be required, but you can wear it to dinner, so it fails. Standard medical scrubs — the solid-color or patterned sets that immediately signal “healthcare worker” — generally clear both bars. Items worn underneath, like undershirts, socks, or regular pants, don’t qualify no matter where you put them on.
When scrubs qualify, their upkeep rides along. Professional laundering, dry cleaning, and alteration fees all count. Home laundering can be included too, as long as you use a defensible method for calculating a reasonable share of utility costs rather than guessing.
Records That Hold Up
The IRS places the burden of proof on the taxpayer. For every expense you claim, you need records showing the amount, date, and business purpose.
- Purchase receipts or credit card statements showing vendor, date, item description, and amount for every set of scrubs.
- Receipts from dry cleaners or commercial laundry services. For home laundering, a short log noting frequency and your calculation method — a per-load cost estimate based on your utility rates works.
- Separate receipts for alterations, tailoring, or embroidery like a practice name.
- A simple note confirming the scrubs are used only for work, which helps show they pass the uniform test.
Electronic records meet the same standard as paper. A receipt, digital or otherwise, needs the payee, amount, date, proof of payment, and a description of what was purchased.6Internal Revenue Service. What Kind of Records Should I Keep Keep records for at least three years from the date you filed the return; if you file a refund claim later, the period extends to three years from filing or two years from paying the tax, whichever comes later.7Internal Revenue Service. 8Internal Revenue Service. Accuracy-Related Penalty
The more common problem for self-employed healthcare workers isn’t fraud. It’s clothing that doesn’t pass the “not suitable for everyday wear” test. Athletic-style scrubs marketed to healthcare workers but also sold as loungewear sit in a gray area. If the IRS decides your particular scrubs are adaptable to general use, the deduction is disallowed and you owe back taxes plus interest. Sticking with clearly medical scrubs from healthcare uniform suppliers, rather than crossover athleisure brands, keeps that risk low.