It would seem that the government would allow a portion of Institutional self-pay premiums to be tax deductible. Does anyone know. She has a moderate income under $35K a year.
Just checked last year's tax return. The percentage is actually 38.5 for ALF. I also was able to submit all the pharmacy, dental and medical bills. Do not know the formula for that but at least there is some tax deduction. I cannot imagine it not being the same all over the country. We have submitted this the same way for five years and there was never a question.
Yes, they are. My mother's is 100 percent tax deductible being in memory care and my dad's is 35.4 percent in assisted living. Your facility will give you that info when you need to file taxes.
In the case of my husband, it was because assisted living was ordered by his doctor. He suffered from chronic depression all his life and the doctor felt that assisted living would provide the socialization he needed. He was right and his rent and all expenses became tax deductible as part of his treatment.
Refer to IRS Publication 502 (2013): Medical & Dental Expenses: Long Term Care. For the past 2 years I have been able to claim administration of medications, and extra personal care. My understanding is that you cannot claim basic room and board, but other personal care expenses are deductible. Refer to the above IRS publication.
Gemma. That is very interesting. I hope that is the case with other doctors willing to do this. I'm going to ask my accountant to check into this. Would be a great tax saving.
My husband has Lewy Body Dementia and I placed him in Assisted Living in 2012. My Accountant advised me to capture all medical costs and to get a letter from the Doctor with his diagnosis. People with certain diagnosis are tax deductible such as Alzheimer's and other cognitive deficiency illnesses. The % may vary by State. Neither facility my husband has been in wanted to give me a % of ALS care was tax deductible so we turned to a state source. The state source gave % based on the license of the facility and on the level of care (activities of daily living). I keep a record of the reports issued by the facility as to the level of care he receives. We have used 40% for the ALS portion in NY for the last 3 years. Other medical costs are 100% including my premium for LTC Insurance. (If you pay for premiums from a Health Care Savings account then you are already getting the tax break so exclude from medical costs.
In order for room and board expenses to be deductible you do need a doctors letter. It must state that the person needing care must reside in an environment that provides assistance with "IADL's" ( meals, house keeping, linen laundering, transportation) in order to receive assistance with their "ADL's" (bathing, dressing, medications, etc.). This is what links the base rent with care level as a necessary medically related expense.
Anyone else know for sure?
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