First, you can deduct medical expenses for a person who is your dependent or who could be your dependent if the reason they are disqualified is a joint return or their income. For a parent, that means that you can deduct their medical expenses if you pay more than half their total financial support. So you will need to consider the costs, their income, and so on.
However, assisted living costs may not be medical expenses.
If you haven't followed the rules for chronic illness, then you can only deduct nursing care. Nursing care does not have to be provided by a nurse, but it must be a kind of service commonly provided by a nurse, such as providing medication and assisting with eating, toileting, and so on. Other expenses, such as room and board and housekeeping, are not nursing expenses and not medical deductions. You must allocate the expense between nursing and non-nursing expenses in some reasonable way. The assisted living facility may offer some guidance on this.
If your parent has a chronic illness and you follow certain rules, then all the expense is a deductible medical expense. The rules are:
1. A doctor certifies that the person has a chronic illness and requires assistance with 2 or more activities of daily living, OR has a cognitive impairment and requires supervision to prevent them from becoming a danger to themselves or others. (Activities of daily living are eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, continence and transferring.)
2. The care is provided according to a care plan that is prepared by a medical professional or qualified social worker that is reviewed and updated at least annually.
