Can I claim my disabled father as a dependent?

[JoshMcWilliams]

I have full PoA over my disabled father. I handle all his doctor appointments including driving him to and from. I handle all of his finances, pay for all his medical care that Medicare doesn't cover. I pay for anything his SSDI income does not cover. He lives in his own home but I am a full time care giver. Am I able to claim him as a dependent or write off any of the costs on my taxes? I average around 1000 miles a year and at least $4-6k in expenses.

[Vanessa A]

Possibly.  In order to claim your father as a dependent, in addition to what you listed above, you would have to pay for OVER half of his living expenses. 

Living expenses include, food, housing, clothing, medical, transportation, etc.  

To claim someone as a Qualifying Relative, they must be:

• Your child ( including step children, adoptive children and foster children) or a descendent of them
• Your sibling (including half siblings) or a child of your sibling or a sibling-in-law
• Your parent or grandparents, including step parents and in laws
• Any other person that lived with you for the entire tax year
• Not a qualifying child of another taxpayer
• Someone that you provided over half of their support for during the tax year
• Has less than $5,050 in income (not counting social security)

If he does meet the criteria to be a qualifying relative, then you may be able to claim the $500 Non-Refundable Other Dependent Credit as well as file as Head of Household. 

However, in order to deduct the medical expenses you are paying for him, you would need to itemize your return instead of taking the standard deduction. Itemized expenses include mortgage interest, gambling losses up to winnings,  charitable contributions, state and local taxes up to $10,000, medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI and casualty and losses in excess of 10% of you AGI with the first $100 not counting towards the loss.  Your health insurance and all medical expenses are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI.  This means if your AGI is $50,000, then the amount that is over $3,750 is deductible.  

Then your total itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction below in order to benefit from your expenses. 

The 2024 Standard Deductions are as follows:

• Married Filing Joint (MFJ)              $29,200
• Married Filing Separate (MFS)      $14,600
• Head of Household (HOH)             $21,900 
• Single                                                 $14,600                                

Blind or over 65 and MFJ or MFS add $1,550

Single or HOH if blind or over 65 add $1,950

Standard versus Itemized Deduction

Steps to Claiming an Elderly Parent as a Dependent

[JoshMcWilliams]

So he has $4800 worth of income outside of Social Security. His Social Security is just over $20k a year though. I have no issues itemizing if it will work out in my favor. The main issue is with my dad's medical and ours against my income it may not reach over the 7.5% as that would be just under $9k per year. 

I pay for food aside from his SNAP which last year was $57/m.  Cover medical not covered by insurance.  He does cover his mortgage which is about all his SSDI covers.

[BrittanyS]

In order to itemize the medical expenses, the medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of you AGI.  If the medical expenses do not exceed 7.5%, the medical expenses can't be deducted.  

However, paying for the medical expenses will count towards how much support you provide for your father.  If you can show you pay more than half his living expenses as detailed by, Vanessa A, then you can claim your father as a dependent.  To determine this, you will need to calculate all living expenses paid for by you and what is paid by him and see if you pay over half.  

@JoshMcWilliams