Watch your wallet, medical deductions you should not overlook<\/strong><\/p>\n Have you been paying medical bills and wondering how they can be made to work for your wallet? The \u201cTax Cut and Jobs Act\u201d (TCJA) passed in Dec 2017 reinstates the 7.5% of adjusted gross income threshold for medical deductions. While we are familiar with the usual expenses of doctors, dentists and prescription medicines, here are some other costs that you can deduct.<\/p>\n Nursing home care and assisted living<\/strong><\/p>\n The median annual cost in 2018 for an assisted living facility was $48,000 and for nursing home care<\/a> was over $100,000. If these expenses could be deducted on your tax returns, you could substantially reduce your income tax liability and your financial burden from these costs. For a married couple with $130,000 of pretax income including social security, a year\u2019s worth of medical deductions from nursing home care may save more than $8,000 in state and federal taxes.<\/p>\n Long term care provisions were added to the Internal Revenue Code in 1996, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has since then provided guidance and safe harbor definitions for costs that you can deduct. You can include in medical expenses amounts paid for \u201cqualified long-term care services\u201d. \u201cQualified long-term care services\u201d include diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitative services, as well as personal care services, which are required by a chronically ill individual and provided as part of a plan of care prescribed by a licensed health care practitioner.<\/p>\n Home Improvement<\/strong><\/p>\n Sometimes it is necessary to modify our homes and residences to make them easier to live in. Whilst you can use home improvement supply store special offers (https:\/\/www.raise.com\/coupons\/home-depot<\/a>) to cut costs for handrails, bars, and elderly-friendly modifications \u2013 some modifications like chair lifts and room expansions can still cost a significant amount. Fortunately, costs for installation of a chair lift, handrails, support bars, kitchen, and bathroom modifications to accommodate disabilities or aging are all tax-deductible items.<\/p>\n Any home modifications including installation of entry and exit ramps, home modifications, grading of ground can also all be deducted as part of your medical costs.<\/p>\n