hospice services

[sfolaw]

We  hired an overnight caregiver for my wife in hospice for a few days before death.   Are her agency's charges deductible?

[Opus 17]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Deductible medical services include nursing care.  The IRS says,

"The services need not be performed by a nurse as long as the services are of a kind generally performed by a nurse. This includes services connected with caring for the patient's condition, such as giving medication or changing dressings, as well as bathing and grooming the patient. These services can be provided in your home or another care facility. Generally, only the amount spent for nursing services is a medical expense. If the attendant also provides personal and household services, amounts paid to the attendant must be divided between the time spent performing household and personal services and the time spent for nursing services."

The IRS does not have a separate rule for hospice care, so the general rule about nursing services would apply.  

So the care may be partly, totally, or not at all deductible, depending on what the aide actually did. 

[NCperson]

@sfolaw sorry for your loss. 

While they are deductible, there are a few other rules that apply

1) only the medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your income are deductible

2) you have to have enough deductible items to itemize; otherwise you'll take the standard deduction

Also, in the year of her passing, you are still considered Married-Filing Joint for tax purposes.

[Opus 17]

@sfolaw 

Be aware that, while there are some limits on the ability to deduct medical expenses, you should list all your qualified medical expenses in TurboTax, and let TurboTax calculate the net deduction, if any. The program is designed to do this calculation for you. 

You may, of course, have other qualified medical expenses in addition to the qualified portion of the hospice care aide.