Can long Covid be considered a disability for tax purposes?

[the-havens]

Our son has been unable to work due to long Covid. Can we claim he's disabled on our tax forms as we're supporting him?

[JulieS]

It depends on how long his condition lasts and how severe it is. 

The IRS defines a disabled person as one who can't engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition, for a period of one year or more. 

This is the same definition used by the Social Security Administration. If your son gets Social Security Disability, you can rely on that as proof of disability.

Otherwise, the question of disability is a medical question and should be posed to your son's doctors. 
 

[xmasbaby0]

And...what are you trying to accomplish by saying he is disabled?

Do I get a credit or deduction if my child is disabled?

If your child is older than 12 and you need to pay someone to take care of him while you work, you can say he is disabled and you can still get the childcare credit on your federal return.   Or if he is 19 or older you may still be able to claim him as a qualifying child dependent on your federal return.

Aside from those things, there is no federal tax advantage to saying that your child is disabled.   Your state tax laws might be different.

For disabled adults:

There is an extra amount added to your standard deduction if you are legally blind.   Your federal return does not provide any other credits or deductions for saying you are disabled, with one possible exception.  

There is a credit for the Elderly and Disabled which is so small that very few people benefit from it—-it has not been updated/increased by Congress for decades.

ELDERLY OR DISABLED CREDIT https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-qualify-for-the-credit-for-the-elderly-or-disabled

There are some states that provide various credits to elderly/disabled folks, so watch for that when you prepare your state return.   The states that I know of that have anything for elderly/disabled are AZ, CT, DE, IA, MO, ND, NJ, NY, VE.   There may be others.