Thanks for joining us today deluciavj!
When it comes to deductions - you can either take the standard deduction, or you can itemize your deductions. In order for itemizing to be beneficial, the total of all your eligible itemized deductions needs to exceed your standard deduction. The underlying concept is that the standard deduction gives you what you need, unless you have really high deductions in certain areas.
Medical expenses are only one component of itemized deductions. When combined with other deductions, if the total exceeds the standard deduction, itemizing saves you money on your taxes.
2023 Standard Deduction
If you are single, the standard deduction is $13,850.
If you are single and over age 65 or blind, that increases to $15,700.
If you are single, over age 65, AND blind, the standard deduction is $17,550
Since you didn't mention if you were single or married, I'm going to assume you are single for the rest of my answer.
The CCRC entry fee is absolutely going to help increase your medical expenses for the year - it is treated as a prepayment of future medical expenses and it is deductible in the year you paid it. You will also add all your other medical expenses for 2023 to this amount - prescriptions, office visit co-pays, glasses, dental work. You will want to gather all of them.
The next component to consider for your itemized deductions is state and local taxes - these are capped at $10,000, and can include income taxes or sales taxes paid, as well as real estate and personal property taxes.
If you owned your home and paid mortgage interest in 2023, that will also be a deduction to add to the Schedule A (where you list all your eligible deductions and calculate the total - don't worry, TurboTax will do it for you when you prepare your return!)
Charitable donations are also deductible. Donating a car will generate a write off for the deduction - but be sure to keep all the paperwork. The IRS will limit your deduction to what the charity sells the vehicle for in most cases. https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/irs-guidance-explains-rules-for-v...
Assuming you are single, and over age 65, you will need to exceed $15,700 in deductions to take advantage of the itemized deductions.
Clarissa
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