Can my husband deduct expenses to care for his Mother in another state for the year 2017?

[ksgwhiz]

He traveled monthly to California from Geogia. Can he wite off traveling and miscellaneous expenses?

[gehinious · Accepted solution]

This is from TurboTax 2017:

You can deduct medical costs you pay directly to medical service providers for another person according to the following rules:

• If you pay medical expenses for someone you do not claim as a dependent on your income tax return, you can deduct those expenses if:
  • He or she either lived with you for the entire year as a member of your household.
  • He or she is related to you (as described in the section  Who's a Relative).
  • He or she was a U.S. citizen or legal resident, or was a resident of Canada or Mexico, for some part of the year.
  • You provided over half of his or her support for the year.
    
    See https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/tax-exemptions-and-deductions-for-families/L0Nx5Tnxi

[MichaelDC]

You can only deduct medical expenses for a non-dependent if the only reason they fail the dependency test is their gross income. Please be careful and don't misconstrue traveling to a parent as a qualified medical expense.

[MichaelDC]

Unfortunately, no. Unless there was a business or employee business reason for the travel, there is no tax deduction available for his travel.

Even, if his mother was a dependent, there's no deduction available, except the ability to claim the dependent exemption.