Stroke Victim

[TAX4US]

Have tp who had a stroke.77 YEARS OLD. Left nursing home after rehab. Still has problems. Moved into a private home paying rent and hired round the clock persons(CNA) to help him. Bookkeeper paid these people and filed w-2's. I can see where he could use these people as a medical deduction. What can I do about the rent paid as he said nursing home was too high although in September he did move to a nursing home. TP takes a pile of medicine,gets rehab, help in bathing. Left hand curled tight after stroke and draggs left foot. Question is what about the rent paid before he went to home? Your take on this is?

[JG EA]

Have tp who had a stroke.77 YEARS OLD. Left nursing home after rehab. Still has problems. Moved into a private home paying rent and hired round the clock persons(CNA) to help him. Bookkeeper paid these people and filed w-2's. I can see where he could use these people as a medical deduction. What can I do about the rent paid as he said nursing home was too high although in September he did move to a nursing home. TP takes a pile of medicine,gets rehab, help in bathing. Left hand curled tight after stroke and draggs left foot. Question is what about the rent paid before he went to home? Your take on this is?

Rent - no because it is not being paid to anyone or anything medical. If he wasn't sick he'd still have rent. But as you say his care (including any Payroll taxes paid by TP for this care)
TTB

Nursing Services—Nonprofessional
Deductions for medical expenses include amounts paid for nursing
services. The services do not have to be performed by a nurse
as long as the services are of a kind performed by a nurse. Nursing
services include giving medication, changing dressings, bathing,
and grooming. The services can be provided in the taxpayer’s
home or another care facility.
The cost of nursing services can include wages and employment
taxes paid to hire a nurse, plus food and lodging provided for the
nurse to live with the taxpayer being cared for.
Personal and household services performed by a nurse are not
deductible. Amounts paid to a nurse must be divided between
the time spent on nondeductible services and the time spent on
nursing services. Exceptions:
• Personal and household services may be
deductible as qualified long-term care services.
• Household services may qualify for the child
and dependent care credit.

[Gretel]

This was my first inclination too but I am not sure that this is a straight forward answer.

If client is in nursing home, the total fees paid to nursing home would be a deduction and the fact that taxpayer had to pay rent no matter where he lived had no bearing.

[JG EA]

This was my first inclination too but I am not sure that this is a straight forward answer.

If client is in nursing home, the total fees paid to nursing home would be a deduction and the fact that taxpayer had to pay rent no matter where he lived had no bearing.

Rent is not normally a medical deduction - it is specified as one under certain circumstances. For instance:
Pub 502

Nursing Home
You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical care in a nursing home, home for the aged, or similar institution, for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. This includes the cost of meals and lodging in the home if a principal reason for being there is to get medical care.

[oceanlovin'ea]

no rent

IMHO, I think that this person could take a lot of expenses including someone to take care of him, but not the rent on his home.

If he were in a home set up to take care of seniors and paid them a set amount considered rent or care expenses, that would be deductible.

Hmmmm....what if he were staying in someone else's home so they could take care of him. He might be able to pay them rent for a room and also wages to take care of him..Wonder if that would be allowed?

Linda, EA

[Burke]

I am going with the statements "....home for the aged, or similar institution..." and ".....if a principal reason for him being there is to get medical care." That qualifies the cost of lodging and meals. There is at least one private home in our area that takes in the elderly infirm who would otherwise have to go into a nursing home, and for a substantially lesser amount. My clients put the wife's mother and then the husband's father there until their deaths because of the quality of the care received, and the fact that they could not have lived by themselves due to their medical conditions. Now, the state may have some say-so over whether it should meet their requirements of a nursing home depending on the circumstances and their legal definition. A private home who takes in a family member, say, would not qualify IMO.

[S T]

Residence Homes

In many States, private residences are licensed with the State, to care for Seniors. Maybe check on the licensing and the care received to determine if the cost would qualify.

Sandy