I'm in the middle of signing my son up for disability for mental health illnesses, should I choose the disabled option or not?

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

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.

[Opus 17]

For tax purposes, disabled means unable to perform gainful work (work a job for at least minimum wage) due to a condition that is permanent or will last at least a year.  If he can work, or if he could go back to work after treatment, he is not disabled for tax purposes, even though he may have a mental or physical condition.  

If he can't work, you can mark him as disabled, but it doesn't change very much.  (It may allow you to claim him as a dependent after he would normally age out of that status, and it would allow you to claim expenses for dependent care, if you need to pay for someone to watch him while you work, even after he would normally age out of that credit.)