TP paid sons recovery treatments but son not dependent

[AZ-Tax]

TP paid for sons recovery treatment but son is not dependent on TP tax return. Would this qualify under Sch A medical deductions for TP?

I dont have the age of the son so it could be son filing his own tax return and claims himself.

[taxea]

can take medical expenses if son is his dependent. taxea

[Bill Tubbs]

Pub 17 pg 142

"Dependent"

The rules for Dependent in this situation are a LITTLE different than whether you can claim an exemption for someone. In particular, the Qualifying Relative for medical does not have any gross income restriction. So, TP may not be able to claim an exemption for son if son had >$3500 income, but if they provided over half of his support (a large medical bill would certainly go towards support!) they can at least claim the medical expense.

Bill

[BP.]

Agree w/Bill -- TTB 4-5. Son does not necessarily need to be claimed as tp's dependent for medical expenses to qualify as deductible. This is a nice little rule many clients have been able to benefit from.

[Larmil]

Agree w/Bill -- TTB 4-5. Son does not necessarily need to be claimed as tp's dependent for medical expenses to qualify as deductible. This is a nice little rule many clients have been able to benefit from.

Yes, I had one this year that benefited with over $21,000 in deductions.

[Jesse]

As pointed out by others

can take medical expenses if son is his dependent. taxea

Exact quote from IRS: "can also deduct medical expenses you paid for someone who would have qualified as your dependent except that the person didn't meet the gross income or joint return test."

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502.html

[POCAHONTAS]

this is good to know I always thought one had to be claimed as a dependant in order to claim the medical expenses.

[AZ-Tax]

I have more details,.....

Quick reveiw: TP paid for Sons recovery treatment. Son is not dependent on TP's tax return.

Son resides with his grandparents who also paid towards Sons recovery treatment. Son will file his own tax return and I assume will either claim himself or his grandparents will claim him. Regardless TP will not be able to claim Son. Dont know and probably will never know what Son made in 2008.

I read pg 4-5 of TTB (bottom right) and I am scrathing my head to see if the TP can still deduct the Sons recovery treatment the TP paid for in 2008. If it all hinges on if the Son made $3500 or more, then its probalby not a go for the TP since that info is not nor will be available (long story).

Help

[BP.]

Reread TTB 4-5. Your answer does not hinge on whether son made over $3,500, as there is no earnings test for your purposes. Check TTB 3-15, QR rules, and eliminate rule # 6 for your situation. Your most pertinent question here is did your TP provide over 50% of son's support? If yes, he can claim the medical expense. You can also reference pub 17, p. 142, center column, under QR section.

[Jesse]

If the son would have qualified as taxpayers dependent except that the person didn't meet the gross income or joint return test is the exception. So in your case, I think the support test would come into play.

If the grandparents provided more than 1/2 the support for the son, but the son had income of more than the $3,500, they could take the medical expenses they paid, but not the dependency exemption.

The amount paid for medical would definitely be added towards sons support, so you would need to determine who paid for more than 1/2 of sons total support.