Mark Bole <makbo[at]pacbell.net> wrote:
- quote -

I understand that the law in California is that if you have
a parent or child (of any age) who is destitute, you have a
legal responsibility to take care of his necessary expenses.
I have not researched this issue, though, and don't know to
what extent it is currently accurate.

Stu

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- quote -

Not exactly.

The medical expenses that you paid to your medical dependent
who you claim under a multiple support agreement, are
deductible.

But medical payments made by your two siblings who cannot
claim this person as a dependent, perhaps because they
signed away their rights under a multiple support agreement,
cannot be claimed.

See http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p502.pdf page 4, Multiple
Support Agreement.

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

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Shyster1040 wrote:

- quote -

Can you list any states where you know this to be true? I
had heard this before, but in another newsgroup I could not
respond with any specific states that require close
relatives (children) to support elderly parents.

-Mark Bole

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Phil Marti <prm20871[at]verizon.net> wrote:
- quote -

What is really needed is to see if father is a dependent for
medical purposes. IRS Pub 502 explains the rules, but if
you look at the tests for Wualified relative, only the
Support Test, the Relationship Test, and the
citizenship/redident tests count.

The gross income test and the joint return tests are ignored
for medical dependents.

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

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kamlet[at]panix.com (Arthur Kamlet) wrote:

- quote -

Good information.

Related question: If 3 siblings were to equally share
father's nursing home expenses, none of the 3 would meet the
"provided half of the qualifying relative's support" test.

Would this mean no tax deduction for any of them?

-HW "Skip" Weldon
Columbia, SC

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As to the general issue of legal obligations of support,
see, e.g., PLR 8135032 (6/1/1981), to the effect that, if
person A has a legal obligation under applicable state law
to support person B, amounts paid by A for B's support do
not constitute gifts to B.

As to deductibility of amounts paid for medical expenses of
an ailing father, Section 213 provides a deduction for
medical expenses paid on behalf of a "dependent." 213(a).
In particular, "dependent" is defined, for purposes of
Section 213, without regard to whether the putative
dependent meets the maximum income limitation requirement of
Section 152(d)(1)(B). See Section 213(a)("dependent(as
defined in section 1523, determined without regard to
subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B) thereof)").

Thus, provided that the OP provides over one-half of his
father's support for the calendar year, any medical expenses
the OP pays on his father's behalf should be deductible
under Section 213. Second, to the extent that the OP has a
legal obligation to support his father under applicable
state law, payments made by the OP on his father's behalf
will not constitute taxable gifts to his father.

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Steve <smarker5[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes. You ignore the Gross Income test when determining if
he is your dependent for medical purposes. See IRS Pub 502.

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

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"Shyster1040" <Shyster1040[at]nospamhotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Do you have a 26 USC cite for that? There are lots of
things that are required by state law that aren't deductible
for Federal income tax. For example, auto registration
fees, sales tax, state excise taxes, etc.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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Have you determined whether you have a legal obligation to
support your father under applicable state law? If you have
a legal obligation to support him, then medical payments you
make in satisfaction of that obligation are deductible
medical expenses incurred by you.

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"Bill" <an_ordinary_guy_158[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

This is wrong. What's unique about parents, and only
parents, is that they can be qualifying relatives for Head
of Household filing status without living with you. They
must qualify as dependents, including the gross income test,
for this to be true.

What's unique about medical expenses, which was OP's
question, is that you can deduct them if paid for someone
who would qualify as a dependent except for the gross income
and joint return tests.

Publications 501 and 502.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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Steve wrote:

- quote -

You can deduct his medical expenses that you pay if he is a
U.S. citizen or national or a resident of the United States,
Canada, or Mexico and you provided more than half of his
total support and he has a taxpayer ID.

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"Steve" <smarker5[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

paying your father's nursing home bill should be considered
in determining his support

___________________________________
<<< Benjamin Yazersky, CPA [NJ & NY] > > -----> real address on hobokeni or hobokenx <-----

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smarker5[at]hotmail.com (Steve) posted:

- quote -

Parents and other close relatives hold an exceptional
position, when it comes to the relationship test for
dependency. They can be claimed so long as you paid more
than half the cost of "maintaining their home" for the tax
year -- even if they live elsewhere.

So long as you meet that test, you can not only deduct the
medical costs (in this case, for a nursing home), but also
claim your father as a dependent.

I am assuming he is not still filing his own return jointly
with his spouse, and the "bit higher" than $3300 -- the 2006
level of "independence" -- is not $10,000 or so (which would
make it difficult, though not impossible, to qualify as
"providing more than half the cost").

Bill

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"Steve" <smarker5[at]hotmail.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes, assuming that you provided more than half his support
for the year. See IRS Publication 502.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

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Apologies if I'm posting to the wrong group.

I have the means to fully pay my father's nursing home bills
(at least for a while), and am willing to do so since the
place I'd like him to stay in may not take Medicaid. His
gross income is a bit higher than what's required to have me
declare him as a dependent. If that's so could I still
deduct his nursing home expenses (which would be 100% for
medical reasons) on my return?

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