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There isn't actually a special tax credit for the disabled on a federal
tax return, although a reasonable person would think that there might,
or should, be. That isn't a TurboTax decision; it's just a matter of
federal tax law.
Certainly, you can include, toward your
itemized deductions, any out-of-pocket medical expenses that may be a
result of your disability, subject to the usual limits (i.e., medical
expenses only "count" if they exceed 10% of your Adjusted Gross
Income). Even then, you can only itemize deductions if your total
deductions exceed the standard deduction for your filing status (i.e.,
Married Filing Jointly, Single, etc.).
This is why you won't
see a general question on the federal side of the TurboTax program
relating to a permanent and total disability. The answer simply won't
matter for federal tax purposes, as there is no federal tax credit, or
additional exemption, for it (although in a notable exception there is a
tax benefit(s) for those who are legally blind).
However, if you happen to live in a state where there in an income tax, then the answer to the above may be modified, as some states do indeed have a special tax benefit in their tax laws for the disabled.
For example, the state of Oregon offers an additional state-level personal exemption for those who are totally and permanently disabled and have the records to prove it. As such, in the Oregon module of the TurboTax program, you will actually see a question that asks specifically about permanent disability. There are other similar examples from other states as well.
For instance, if you are a Kentucky resident, and you are receiving pension disability retirement income, some (or all) of that pension income can be excluded from state taxation, because of the fact that the recipient is totally and permanently disabled. Once again, that is a state-level question and would appear as a question in the state module (not federal).
In order to research this further, you would want to check your own state's tax instructions, or their tax preparation booklet, and perform a search for the word "disability." Additionally, where applicable, the TurboTax state module will ask you relevant questions about disability (including disability of a spouse) as well.
I found Schedule R that is titled "Credit for the Elderly or the Disabled" so yes, there is a credit.
With regard to Schedule R, not every disabled person qualifies. Read Who Can Take The Credit in this IRS reference: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040sr.pdf
Unfortunately, in your case the answer is probably "no." In order to qualify for any credit, your wife must have had some sort of taxable disability income. The Turbo Tax program will automatically fill in Schedule R for you and compute your credit (if any).
Yes there is a Sch R for the federal return .... HOWEVER it has not been indexed in so many years that only .00001 of the taxpayers can get any of the tiny credit at all ... https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040sr.pdf ... you can run the numbers but when you get to line 19 you may be very sad and surprised ... this credit is very antiquated and needs to be updated or retired.
I wasn't sad lol we qualify lol
If you qualify then the program will compute it automatically ... in the MY INFO section you will indicate who is disabled and then AFTER you have entered in ALL the income (taxable and non taxable) the credit will be calculated. Review the Sch R carefully to make sure you entered in all your income of all kinds. If your income is indeed low enough to get the credit these days then you don't have any tax liability for the credit to negate... it may be a hollow victory.
My daughter is a public-school teacher (18-years) with 2 young children and she’s married. Her husband has a student loan. Her husband is also totally disabled and pending an SSA disability, but they have a physician and medical specialist who states that her husband can no longer work.
He suffers from Grand Mal Seizures and his medication does not prevent the seizures. He is also Type I diabetic. After each seizure, the law prevents him from driving for 6-months in their state and 1-year in the adjoining state. In addition to the absenteeism from work, the days when he has a seizure and must leave work, and his inability to drive to work (by law), he is not employable.
Her husband is in default on his student loan (federal loan). Her husband had no income for the past 2 years.
They filed their tax returns a few weeks ago, but they did not realize that the student loan was in collection. The IRS took the entire income tax return (approx. $9,200).
What are her options to get some of this money returned to her (this was all collected from her pay)? Should she file an amended return, Head of Household, and list him as a dependent only? She realizes that this would only give her a standard deduction of $17,500, which would cause her to lose money in the refund.
Does she have any other options? She used TurboTax software for her initial federal and Georgia returns.
She can file an injured spouse form to protect part of the refund. It can be mailed in even after e-filing the return. Be aware it takes about 14 weeks for the IRS to process an injured spouse form.
INJURED SPOUSE
https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1910698-how-do-i-file-form-8379-injured-spouse-allocation
And no--she cannot file as Head of Household. That status does not fit her situation at all.
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