Anonymous wrote:I just looked this up and I don’t think you can deduct the full cost of a home health aide. You could probably deduct a portion. My understanding was you could only deduct for the amount of tone they spend on medical/healthcare type activities, so not fixing meals, light housekeeping etc

I thought you deduct it as a medical expense but that deduction only kicks in if over 7.5 percent of AGI

Not an accountant so feel free to correct me!

Nursing Services

You can include in medical expenses wages and other amounts you pay for nursing services. The services need not be performed by a nurse as long as the services are of a kind generally performed by a nurse. This includes services connected with caring for the patient's condition, such as giving medication or changing dressings, as well as bathing and grooming the patient. These services can be provided in your home or another care facility.

Generally, only the amount spent for nursing services is a medical expense. If the attendant also provides personal
and household services, amounts paid to the attendant must be divided between the time spent performing household and personal services and the time spent for nursing services.

For example, because of your medical condition, you pay a visiting nurse $300 per week for medical and household services. Ten percent of the nurse’s time is spent doing household services such as washing dishes and laundry. You can include only $270 per week as medical expenses. The $30 (10% × $300) allocated to household services can't be included. However, certain maintenance or personal care services provided for qualified long-term care can be included in medical expenses. See Maintenance and personal care services under Long-Term Care, earlier. Additionally, certain expenses for household services or for the care of a qualifying individual incurred to allow you to work may qualify for the child and dependent care credit. See Pub. 503.

You can also include in medical expenses part of the amount you pay for that attendant's meals. Divide the food
expense among the household members to find the cost of the attendant's food. Then divide that cost in the same
manner as in the preceding paragraph. If you had to pay additional amounts for household upkeep because of the
attendant, you can include the extra amounts with your medical expenses. This includes extra rent or utilities you
pay because you moved to a larger apartment to provide space for the attendant.

Long-Term Care- Maintenance and personal care services

Long-Term Care

You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for qualified long-term care services and certain amounts of
premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance contracts.

Qualified Long-Term Care Services

Qualified long-term care services are necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, rehabilitative services, and maintenance and personal care services (defined later) that are:

1. Required by a chronically ill individual, and
2. Provided pursuant to a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practitioner.

Chronically ill individual.

An individual is chronically ill if, within the previous 12 months, a licensed health care practitioner has certified that the individual meets either of the following descriptions.

1. The individual is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living without substantial assistance from
another individual for at least 90 days, due to a loss of functional capacity. Activities of daily living are eating,
toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence.

2. The individual requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment.

Maintenance and personal care services.

Maintenance or personal care services is care which has as its primary purpose the providing of a chronically ill individual with needed assistance with the individual’s disabilities (including protection from threats to health and safety due to severe cognitive impairment).