Widowed late december, his med ical bills are pilimnngf up. Can I list them or not?

[SabrinaD2]

Yes, you can list your deceased spouse's medical bills on your tax return. According to the IRS, you can include the medical expenses you paid for your deceased spouse as itemized deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040) in the year you paid them, whether they were paid before or after their death. 

• You can deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For example, if your AGI is $50,000, you can only deduct the amount of your medical expenses that exceeds $3,750 (which is 7.5% of $50,000

If you need more detailed information, you can refer to IRS Publication 502 for medical and dental expenses.

Additional filling Information

Filing Your Taxes if Your Spouse Died in 2024 or 2025

• For 2024: You can file a joint return with your deceased spouse for the year of their death (2024), unless you remarry during that year
• For 2025: For the two years following your spouse's death, you may qualify to file as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse if you meet certain requirements. This status normally allows you to use the same tax rates as Married Filing Jointly.

[xmasbaby0]

So sorry for your loss.   To be clear----when you enter medical expenses, you can only enter the expenses that you PAID in 2024, not the ones that have "piled up" but have not been paid.   Only medical expenses that you paid can be entered into your tax return.

 For the year that your spouse died, you can still file a joint return.  That way, you will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $29,200 (+ $1550 for each spouse 65 or older) which will lower the amount of income you are taxed on.

In My Info, you will need to indicate that your spouse died. When his name is in My Info,  there is a screen early in the interview that asks "Do any of these apply to [name] ?’” where you will do that, and then a drop down will appear where you can enter the date he passed.

If you have qualifying dependent children you will be able to file as a qualifying surviving spouse  (QSS) for the next two years after this tax return.  Post back if you need further help.