Parent as dependent (Income is $5,100. Medical is $48,000)

Hopefully, somebody here can help me help my client out.

My client has just placed their father in an assisted living facility. The father's income is $5,100/yr from a pension and $2,400/yr from Social Security. My client will be paying $4,000/mo for her father's care.

She asked if she can deduct this as a medical expense. In order to do so, her father would first need to qualify as her dependent.

I hope I am missing something, but it is my understanding that this is only possible if her father's income was less than $4,500. Is that correct?

I wonder if there was a way to abandon his pension...

I believe that a taxpayer can deduct medical expenses for an individual who would have been a dependent except that their income exceeded $4400. Would the father have been a dependent except for his income?

My memory is that he'd have to renounce the income (pension) before he had the right to it. And it also depends on the terms of the pension plan. There are many examples of people who work for a dollar a year in jobs where they'd be entitled to a normal salary.

Agree with theresa- From the pub:

You can include medical expenses you paid for an individual that would have been your dependent except that: The person received gross income of $4,400 or more in 2022; The person filed a joint return for 2022; or. You, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent on someone else's 2022 return.

Correct. It's in 213(a). He'd deduct the medical but not claim the dependent exemption.

Those pension and Social Security amounts seem unusually low. Are they both yearly, or is one monthly?

This is excellent info. Each of you, thank you very much!

I know the pension amounts are correct as they provided me the 1099s. I never saw the SSA 1099 but I did not press for it. I believe that income is ignored for the $4,400 gross income test since it would have all been tax free at his level of income.

Posting the cite for future reference

§ 213(a)Allowance of deduction
There shall be allowed as a deduction the expenses paid during the taxable year, not compensated for by insurance or otherwise, for medical care of the taxpayer, his spouse, or a dependent (as defined in section 152, determined without regard to subsections (b)(1), (b)(2), and (d)(1)(B) thereof), to the extent that such expenses exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income.

§ 152(d)Qualifying relative
For purposes of this section—
(1)In general
The term “qualifying relative” means, with respect to any taxpayer for any taxable year, an individual—
...
(B)whose gross income for the calendar year in which such taxable year begins is less than the exemption amount (as defined in section 151(d)),

It was not mentioned above where dad was living before going to a nursing home. In order for dad to be claimed as a dependent wouldn't he have had to been living with his child before he went into a nursing home?

It's my understanding that a parent who qualifies as a dependent doesn't have to live with the taxpayer plus the taxpayer can qualify as HoH.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#e ... 1000220815

Good catch. Thank you.

That PUB says

However, you must be able to claim your parent as a dependent.

Seems OP's client fails that. Or do you all disagree?

Is he going in for medical reasons? Is Medicaid a factor in this situation?