topic Re: deductions in Deductions & credits

deductions

Ena1 — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 19:19:28 GMT

I have POA and make all decisions for my 95 year old mother who is in assisted living. She is unable to anything for herself and is in a wheelchair chair. She receives a $2200 a month RR pension from my deceased father. We were supplementing the $5200 a month cost of her assissted living with money from sale of their home. Shes been in assisted living for 6 years and the money from her home ran out last April so I have been paying the extra $3000 a month for her. Can I take that $3000 a month as a deduction on my taxes for 2024?

Re: deductions

MaryK4 — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 19:28:50 GMT

Probably not- if you can claim your mother as a dependent on your tax return, you can deduct the medical expenses if you itemize your deductions; but because of her income, you may not be able to claim her. See Can I Claim My Parent as a Dependent? - Intuit TurboTax Blog

Re: deductions

fanfare — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 19:45:00 GMT

your mom's income is too high to be your dependent.

To stop paying yourself, you show assisted living/medicaid that she is penniless, they will take her pension and social security as partial payment

Re: deductions

NCperson — Sun, 06 Apr 2025 20:29:15 GMT

@Ena1 are you providing for more than 50% of her financial support? if so, there is an exception that even if you can't claim her due to her income, you can still deduct her medical expenses. You would have to be able to itemize on your tax return. Understand that only medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your income would be tax deductible. Also, confirm with the facility how much of that $5200 per month is considered living expenses versus medical care.

Re: deductions

fanfare — Tue, 08 Apr 2025 02:17:58 GMT

If your mom is an invalid, the expense of the home is medical care.

You should be able to get a statement on her doctor's letterhead confirming this.