The IRS has recently clarified that the purchase of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of coronavirus are deductible medical expenses.
If you are itemizing your taxes and your total medical expenses for 2020 (including PPE, other out of pocket medical expenses, health insurance premiums not already paid pre-tax from your paycheck, Medicare and Medigap premiums) exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI), then you are in luck and you'll increase your 2020 tax deductions.
Quickly tally up all of your larger medical expenses to see if it's worth actually going back and meticulously recording each and every out of pocket expense, each purchase of PPE, and your mileage for medical appointments last year.
In addition, the IRS noted that the amounts paid for personal protective equipment are also eligible to be paid or reimbursed under health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs), Archer medical savings accounts (Archer MSAs), health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs), or health savings accounts (HSAs).
Please note that while we always encourage you to use up as much of your Flexible Spending Accounts (hence the highlighting of "spending") we don't recommend folks actually spend the money in their Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). As the word "savings" suggests, consider saving these accounts in stock heavy investment funds for the future (such as retirement) and instead let your money grow tax free over many decades. Your future self will thank you.