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What Can I Deduct When Caring for an Aging Parent?

Your parents most likely took care of you for many years and when they get older, it may be your turn to start taking care of them. Taking care of aging parents can be expensive and time consuming, but thanks to some tax breaks from the Internal Revenue Service, you may be able to get some money back on your taxes.

  1. Claiming as Dependent

    • When you start taking care of a parent, you may be able to claim him as a dependent, giving you another exemption that can be claimed on your tax return. This lowers the amount of income that is counted for tax purposes. Taking care of a parent does not automatically qualify you to add him as a dependent however. Before you get an exemption, your parent must meet some qualifications.

    Dependent Qualifications

    • When you want to find out if you are eligible to claim your parent as a dependent, you must look at his income. In this situation, your parent must get at least 50 percent of his income from you. He also cannot make more than $7,100 to qualify as a dependent, as of 2011. Your parent does not necessarily have to live with you, but you have to provide more than half of his support before you get to claim him as a dependent.

    Medical Expenses

    • If you pay for your parent's medical expenses, you may also be able to deduct part of these costs from your taxable income. To deduct your parent's medical costs, you must provide more than half of his living costs. When you pay his expenses, you only get to deduct anything over 7.5 percent of your income. This means that the medical expenses must be substantial to get any deduction. If you do pay a large amount of money in medical expenses however, this will at least give you some kind of tax break.

    Tax Credit

    • Another way to potentially lower the amount of tax that you have to pay when caring for an elderly parent is to take the Elderly Dependent Care Tax Credit. This is the same credit that is available for working parents who have to pay for child care. With this credit, you could reduce your tax by as much as $3,650, as of 2011. This option is only available if the parent lives with you and you pay for adult day care so that you can work.

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