Yes. You can take a deduction for the medical expenses
that you paid in 2016 for your Son, if you meet the requirements on page 3 of
Pub 502 under the heading, "whose medical expenses can you include"
and "dependents". Additionally, the deduction that you can take for
medical expenses is limited and you would also have to qualify to itemize your
deductions.
According to page 3 of Pub 502 under
the heading, "dependent", "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. Please note that the requirements for your Son to be considered a dependent for the purposes of taking a deduction for medical expenses are somewhat different than the requirements to claim him as a dependent on your tax return.
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 AND 2) the person was a US citizen, or national
or a resident of the United States Canada, or Mexico. If your qualifying child
was adopted, see "exception for adopted child". https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf
Please refer
to page 4 of Pub 502 under the headings "qualifying child" and
"qualifying relative" to determine if you meet the requirements for
either of these.
To itemize your deductions, you
would have to have personal expenses such as medical and dental expenses,
mortgage interest, real estate taxes, unreimbursed job expenses and certain
miscellaneous expenses, and charitable contributions that when combined together,
total more than your standard deduction. For example if you file single, your
standard deduction is $6300 so you would have to have personal expenses that
total more than $6300.
You can claim a deduction for
the medical and dental expenses that you paid in 2016 if your expenses are in
excess of 10% of your adjusted gross income OR in excess of 7.5% of your
adjusted gross income if you were at least 65 years old as of the end of 2016. The amount that is deductible, is
the amount that is in excess of 10% or 7.5% of your adjusted gross
income.
