"Rod" <Rod[at]NO.SPAM> wrote:
- quote -

<snip
- quote -

This does not sound right to me. Contact your state's
welfare department directly.

--
D.F. Manno | dfmanno[at]mail.com
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of
the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
Winston Churchill

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- quote -

One of the requirements for claiming someone as a dependent
is either that he did not provide more than half of his own
support, or that you did provide more than half of his
support. (Which test applies depends on other factors.) In
either case, if his SSI or SS income is used for his
support, that is counted as support provided by him, not by
you. For the excruciating details of how to calculate
support, I again refer you to IRS Publication 501.

Bob Sandler

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Victor Roberts <xxx[at]lighting-research.com> wrote:

- quote -

And, its also more complicated because I apparently didn't
finish this sentence,

I meant to say:

All his seems more complicated than it really is, perhaps
because I discussed the rules for medical-only deductions
before I discussed the rules for normal dependents.

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

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"Rod" <Rod[at]NO.SPAM> wrote:

- quote -

The requirements for deducting medical expenses for a child
or relative are less restrictive than those for declaring a
child a "full" dependent on your Federal tax return. See
pages 3 and 4 of Publication 502. Your son would seem to
qualify as Qualifying Child this year, and will qualify as a
Qualifying Dependent once he reaches 24 years old.

There is a slightly different set of requirements that have
to be met in order claim a Federal Exemption for your son as
a Dependent, that is, in order to be able to list him as a
Dependent on Line 6c of Form 1040. These are listed on page
19 of the Instructions for Form 1040 or in Table 5 on page
10 of Publication 501. If your son is totally disabled and
you provide more than half his support he should be a
Qualifying Child independent of his age. However, if he
does not meet the Totally Disabled test, then he may qualify
as a Qualifying Relative but here that is an Income Test,
$2300 per year in 2005, that does not exist in the Medical
Deduction requirement.

Note that if your son qualifies as a Dependent under the
rules of Publication 501, his medical expenses are
automatically included. The medical deduction tests given
in Publication 502 are for people who do not qualify as a
Dependent under the rules in Publication 501.

All his seems more complicated than it really is, perhaps
because I discussed the rules for medical-only deductions
before I discussed the rules for

--
Vic Roberts
Replace xxx with vdr in e-mail address.

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......

- quote -

If you provide more than half his support, and met the other
tests, then his gross income is ignored for purposes of
deducting medical costs you paid for him.

See IRS Publication 502.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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"Missy" <mytax[at]yahoo.com> wrote:
- quote -

Thank you, Missy. If I may ask a qualifying question, what
do you mean by, "If he does [qualify for SSI], then you will
have to see if you supported him or his SSI/SS did"?

Rod

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- quote -

Art,

What did you mean by, "Actually, the Gross Income Test is
disregarded when determining if he is your dependent for
medical purposes"?

Rod

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"D.F. Manno" <dfmanno[at]mail.com> wrote:
- quote -

The psychologist to diagnosed him told us that he does
qualify for cash assistance, but the waiting list to get
onto such assistance, in our state, is 5 years.

Rod

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"Stuart A. Bronstein" <spamtrap[at]lexregia.com> wrote:
- quote -

Stuart,

We were blind to it for way too long. I wish we had been
aware of this problem when he was 12. As it is we never
even heard of Asperger's until he was 22. Our son exhibits
no interest in all in interacting with people, getting a
job, getting an education, etc. He spends several hours
every day on our computer fooling around with an old (6+
years old) animation program, making animations that don't
work outside of the program, and then he doesn't save them.
It is like getting into MS Word, becoming an expert at the
Headers and Footers feature, but never saving the Word
document. When he isn't on the computer he goes into his
room and closes the door. I have to admit that if this is
the life I have to face, for the rest of my life, I am going
to need more help than being able to deduct him on my income
taxes. He is draining our finances and making it nearly
impossible for me to save anything at all for my wife and my
retirement.

Rod

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- quote -

Actually, the Gross Income Test is disregarded when
determining if he is your dependent for medical purposes.

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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Rod wrote:

- quote -

Since we have two mentally handicapped adult children I do
know a little about your problem. He may be eligible for
SSI and/or Social Security. I recommend that you talk to
your local Social Security Administration office and see if
he qualifies. If he does, then you will have to see if you
supported him or his SSI/SS did.

Missy Doyle

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- quote -

[snip]

- quote -

If he is unable to work you will probably be able to claim him
as a dependent, in spite of his age. Get IRS Publication 501
and read the section on Exemptions for Dependents. (The 2006
edition isn't out yet, but the rules are the same as for 2005,
except that the gross income limit will be $3300 for 2006 and
$3400 for 2007.) He will probably meet the requirements as
either a "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative." If you
can claim him as a dependent, then you can also include his
medical expenses in determining whether you have enough medical
expenses (over 7.5% of your AGI) to get a medical expense
deduction.

If he manages to hold even a menial job, then you might not be
able to claim him as a dependent, but he would presumably be
contributing whatever he earns towards his own support. That
would probably be worth more than the exemption.

Bob Sandler

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"Rod" <Rod[at]NO.SPAM> wrote:

- quote -

<snip
- quote -

Aside from the dependency exemption and deducting medical
expenses you incur for him, I know of no special tax breaks
for the parents of a disabled child.

Have you checked with your state's welfare department? He
may be eligible for cash assistance, Medicaid, or other aid
that could lessen the financial burden.

--
D.F. Manno | dfmanno[at]mail.com
Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the
end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
- Winston Churchill

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"Rod" <Rod[at]NO.SPAM> wrote

- quote -

He'll still be your dependent, subject to those rules of
course. And you will be able to take medical expenses you
pay on his care.

Talk to a local CPA or EA about the deductible expenses as
far as medical goes. There may be many things that qualify
given the fact pattern.

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia

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Rod wrote:

- quote -

There is no specific deduction available for a disabled
child/young adult. However, it appears that your son
continues to qualify as one of your dependents -- and will
continue to do so for some time. So continue to claim the
dependency exemption for him; that will provide some tax
relief by reducing Taxable Income by $3,300 (in 2006).

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"Rod" <Rod[at]NO.SPAM> wrote:

- quote -

My son is also 23 and also has Aspergers - fairly severly at
that. He was diagnosed when he was 12.

A major difference between Aspergers and autism is that
autistics generally don't care much for interacting or
bonding with other people. Aspergers people do, but just
don't have a clue how. It's primarily a function of
education rather than ability.

A time came when my son was motivated to learn how to deal
successfully with women. He wanted to be a "people person."
So he read two books. One was an etiquette book by Judith
Martin (Miss Manners). The other was Dale Carnage's How to
Win Friends and Influence People.

They changed his life. Now most people wouldn't guess he
has Aspergers. He interacts very well, and has held down a
steady job.

Don't despair and don't give up. Good luck.

- quote -

If you supply more than half his support you can claim him
as a dependant.

Stu

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We have a 23 year old son, who has recently been diagnosed
with Asperger's Disorder, which is a form of higher
functioning autism. There is a possibility that he will not
be able to ever hold down a job, or at best just have menial
jobs. To date he hasn't ever been able to hold a job, and
I've been saddled with continuing to support him. This is
quite a financial burden!

Anyway, as I've said we've only recently (within the last
month) actually gotten a clinical diagnosis of Asperger's.
We've wondered for a long time why he is so different and
why he has so socially awkward, but we didn't even know
about Asperger's Disorder until 18 months ago, and because
my son is in his early 20's, getting anyone qualified to
diagnose someone his age is very hard. His diagnosis does
suggest that he may be incapable of ever having a career, or
in any other way being able to support himself.

What I want to know is if there is any provision in federal
income tax law that will allow me to take a deduction, or
something like that, to help me with the burden of
continuing to support my son?

Rod

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