CCRC Life care entrance fee

[Rod2410]

I will move to a Continuing Care Retirement Community in 2024. I understand the treatment of a portion of the entrance fee as life care advance payment, as specified in IRS PUB 202.  I paid the entrance fee in 2022 and 2023 as a place holder that was fully refundable up until move-in.  The facility has assigned me a move-in date in 2024. Can I treat the life care advance payment as paid in 2024 since it was refundable until then and no services were available prior to move-in?

[Anonymous_]

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/tax-credits-deductions/discussion/one-time-medical-deduction-for-c...

[TomK2023]

No.  You can only take this medical expense one time in the year that it was taken.  Thus, you should choose which year is most advantageous to your tax situation: 2022 or 2023.

"You can include in medical expenses a part of a life-care fee or “founder's fee” you pay either monthly or as a lump sum under an agreement with a retirement home. The part of the payment you include is the amount properly allocable to medical care. The agreement must require that you pay a specific fee as a condition for the home's promise to provide lifetime care that includes medical care. You can use a statement from the retirement home to prove the amount properly allocable to medical care. The statement must be based either on the home's prior experience or on information from a comparable home."

IRS Pub. 502 - Page 10