Correct. You paid the expense, so he cannot claim something he did not pay for. In order for him to claim the expense, he would have to pay. Also, in order for you to claim him, he would have to not provide more than half of his support. So, if he had a large amount of medical bills that he paid himself, depending on what other expenses he would pay himself, you would not be able to claim him as a dependent if the total was more than half of his own support that he paid himself.
But, this brings up a few questions. You said you are claiming him. How old is he? How much did he make? Is he still a student?
In order to claim him as a dependent the following must apply:
- Your child (including adopted and foster children), your sibling, or a descendent of any of them.
- Age 18 or younger at the end of the tax year OR under 24 (and younger than you and your spouse) if they are a full-time student or any age if permanently and totally disabled
- Lived with you for more than 6 months during the tax year
- They did not provide more than half of their own support
- They did not file a joint return, unless it was to claim a refund
If he is not a full time student and is older than 18, then he would have to earn less than $4,400 to be claimed as a dependent.
If he earned less than $12,950, he should be getting all of his taxes paid in back. So, for him to qualify as a dependent and have income that he wasn't getting all of his refund back to begin with and that the itemized deduction would increase his refund and he still did not provide over half of his support would be a very unusual set of circumstances.
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