Illness required me to hire for household services - can I deduct expense?

[txkimball]

Cancer treatment - had to pay for yard and cleaning that I use to do myself

[LeeM · Accepted solution]

No, unfortunately not. According to IRS Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, page 16 (you can select the link to review), household help is not deductible even if recommended by a doctor. I have pasted the information from the Publication here and included the link here:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf

Household Help

You can't include in medical expenses the cost of household help, even if such help is recommended by a doctor. This is a personal expense that isn't deductible. However, you may be able to include certain expenses paid to a person providing nursing-type services. For more information, see Nursing Services (page 12 of Publication 502), earlier, under What Medical Expenses Are Includible. Also, certain maintenance or personal care services provided for qualified long-term care can be included in medical expenses. For more information, see LongTerm Care (page 11 of Publication 502).