@robriegel18 wrote:
Thanks for the response. My specific question was in regards to the criteria for the >50% support threshold to be able to include the expenses on my return and the specific worksheet that someone there had sent me a month ago.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf
You can analyze the support three ways, treating your parents as a couple, and treating your mom separately and your dad separately, and see whose expenses you can deduct, if any. When treating them separately, you can assign half of any joint expenses to each spouse. Also assign to each spouse their particular financial resources (social security, pension, etc.)
For reasons described below, I don't think you will be able to deduct much of what you spent on your mother; paying for her aides certainly counts as support you provided, but it probably doesn't count as a medical expense. Nevertheless, you can analyze them together and separately and see which way the math works.
However, let's take a step back and talk about what expenses are actually allowable medical expense deductions. There are 3 rules I want to start with.
1. Expenses for assisted living are not deductible medical expenses except to the extent that they actually provided nursing care or medical care. Nursing care does not have to be provided by a nurse, but it must be of the type and kind of services usually performed by a nurse, such as assistance with medication, eating, dressing, toileting, and so on. Other expenses for room and board, housekeeping services, and companionship are not deductible medical expenses. The facility will usually provide you a breakdown.
2. Expenses for a nursing home are deductible if the main reason the person is in the nursing home is to obtain medical care. You don't have to separate room and board and other services if this is the case.
3. Long term care expenses, including aides, and including memory care, are generally only deductible medical expenses up to the percentage that represent medical or nursing care. However, the entire cost can be deductible if you meet 3 tests:
a. The person has a chronic condition that will last at least one year or lead to death.
b. The person requires assistance with 2 or more activities of daily living (ADLs are eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring and managing continence) OR the person has a cognitive impairment so that they are a danger to themselves or others if left alone.
c. The care is provided according to a written care plan established by a medical professional or qualified social worker that is reviewed and updated at least once a year.
(Most people miss step 3, unfortunately.)
So, start by identifying costs you paid for that are actually deductible medical expenses. It sounds like your dad's costs might qualify but not your mom, or at least, a higher percentage of dad's costs will qualify. It does not sound like the aides you paid to help your mother will qualify for now. (You will also want to see to that written care plan for your dad if you don't have one, so you can deduct the whole cost of the memory care next year.)
