Can I claim my son as a disabled child?

[brettandminnie]

I have a son who is 12 years old and is adopted.  He is considered disabled because he has severe PTSD an ADHD.  He gets income each month from the state because of his adoption.   Can we claim him as a disabled child?  The money he received from the state pays for some of his care.  We also get mileage reimbursement from his school due to his disability he can't take a bus to his special school with the other kids.  Can I also claim the mileage?  Thank you

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

DISABLED CHILD

So sorry to hear about your child's health problems.  There is not any extra tax benefit or deduction to saying that a child under age 13 is disabled on your Federal return.  If you have a disabled child over 12 and need to pay for childcare so you can work, saying the child is disabled can enable you to claim the childcare credit.  Or if the child is 19 or older, you can still claim the disabled child as your dependent.  Otherwise, it does not benefit you to claim that your child is disabled.  Your state tax laws may be different.

Of course, any medical expenses you are paying out of pocket should be entered in Medical Expenses in case you have met the threshold for claiming medical expenses as a deduction.