Medical Expenses for Nursing Home

[tayltt]

My mother-in-law lives in a nursing home where her SS and Pension pay most of the facility charges.  She had an accident last year and is now being provided full care at an additional charge of over $1600/month, which we pay each month.  I have tried inputting those charges under our taxes as well as under her taxes and nothing is making a difference.  Aren't those charges tax deductible?  If so, where do I put them?  Thanks!

[ColeenD3]

Yes, these are deductible if you itemize and your medical expenses are more than 7.5% of your AGI. Even then, if your itemized deductions are less than your standard deduction, they will not benefit you.

You can include medical expenses you paid for your dependent. For you to include these expenses, the person must have been your dependent either at the time the medical services were provided or at the time you paid the expenses. A person generally qualifies as your dependent for purposes of the medical expense deduction if both of the following requirements are met.

1. The person was a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.
2. The person was a U.S. citizen or national or a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico. If your qualifying child was adopted, see Exception for adopted child, later.

You can include medical expenses you paid for an individual that would have been your dependent except that:

1. He or she received gross income of $4,300 or more in 2021;
2. He or she filed a joint return for 2021; or
3. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2021 return.

[xmasbaby0]

You say that your mom received Social Security and a pension which is mostly going to the nursing home.   Are any taxes being withheld from any of that income?   If no tax is being withheld from your mom's income, then entering medical expenses is not going to make a difference.   She cannot get a tax refund if she paid no tax to begin with.

And.....in order for you to claim the expense---you would have to claim her as a dependent on your own tax return.   Her Social Security does not count, but if the pension is over $4300 per year, you cannot claim her as a dependent.  If you cannot claim her, then you cannot use her medical expenses as a deduction on your own tax return.   There are instances where you can claim someone as a "medical dependent" even if their income exceeds the limit------but only if you are paying for over half her support.    Since the costs of a nursing home are very high----can you say you are paying for over half her support?