If you itemize, you can include qualified medical expenses you incur for your dependent along with yourself when determining your allowed medical expenses. The test for determining whether an individual qualifies as your dependent for medical purposes is less restrictive than that used to determine whether an individual is your dependent. In general, an individual qualifies as a dependent for medical purposes if you provide over 50% of his or her support, including medical costs.

However, bear in mind that medical expenses are deductible only to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI).

The costs of qualified long-term care services required by a chronically ill individual and eligible long-term care insurance premiums are included in the definition of deductible medical expenses. There’s an annual cap on the amount of premiums that can be deducted. The cap is based on age, and in 2024, ranges from $470 for an individual age 40 or less to $5,880 for an individual over 70.

If you aren’t married, you may qualify for “head-of-household” status by virtue of the individual you’re caring for. You can file as head of household if:

• You pay more than half the costs of keeping up your home, and
• The home was the principle residence for more than half the year for either your qualifying child or qualifying relative

If the person you’re caring for is your parent, the person doesn’t need to live with you, so long as you provide more than half of the person’s household costs and the person qualifies as your dependent. A head of household has a higher standard deduction and lower tax brackets than a single filer.

There are requirements for determining whether your loved one is a dependent. The loved one has to meet the qualifying relative requirements. Dependency exemptions are suspended (or disallowed) for 2018 through 2025. But even though the dependency exemption is currently suspended, the dependency tests still apply when it comes to determining whether a taxpayer is entitled to various other tax benefits, such as head-of-household filing status.

For an individual to qualify as your qualifying relative, the following must be true for the tax year at issue:

• You must provide more than 50% of the individual’s support costs,
• The individual must either live with you or be related,
• The individual must not have gross income in excess of an inflation-adjusted exemption amount,
• The individual is not another’s dependent,
• The individual can’t file a joint return for the year, and
• The individual must be a U.S. citizen or a resident of the U.S., Canada or Mexico.

If the cared-for individual qualifies as your dependent, lives with you and physically or mentally can’t take care of him- or herself, you may qualify for the dependent care credit for costs you incur for the individual’s care to enable you and your spouse to go to work.

For 2018 through 2025, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) established a $500 nonrefundable federal income tax credit for dependents who don’t qualify for the Child Tax Credit. Claiming a parent as a qualifying relative would make you eligible for this $500 credit.

The credit is phased out for taxpayers with adjusted gross income (AGI) above $200,000 ($400,000 for a married couple that files jointly). The credit is reduced by $50 for every $1,000 that your AGI exceeds the applicable threshold.