Are Your Loved One's Lodging and Meal Costs at a Long-Term-Care Facility Tax-Deductible?
My wife has dementia and is in a long-term-care facility near my home. Are her monthly food and lodging costs eligible medical expenses?
Probably. Generally, the costs of lodging and meals, in addition to prescriptions, doctor's visits, etc., at a long-term-care facility qualify as deductible medical expenses for a person who is considered chronically ill and is at the facility primarily for medical care, if the long-term-care services are provided pursuant to a plan prescribed by a doctor.
IRS defines "chronically ill" as:
A person unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial assistance from someone else for at least 90 days due to a loss of functional capacity, or
One who requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer's or dementia.
Note this important limit on deducting medicals: Medical expenses are deductible on Schedule A of Form 1040 only if you itemize and only to the extent that your total medical expenses exceed 7.5% of AGI.
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