# Deductibility of adult day care for person with dementia (U.S.)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 30, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379 "2013-03-30T21:13:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 30, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379/1 "2013-03-30T21:13:43Z")

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An elderly person with dementia visits an adult day care center a few times a week for directed activities and social engagement. It is paid for out of this person’s pension income. Her neurologist says these visits are beneficial though there is no documentation stating it is medically necessary. On her taxes, she may:

[ol]  
[li]Deduct it as a medical expense[/li][li]Not deduct it[/li][li]The question is so specific to each individual situation that professional tax advice is required[/li][/ol]

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**Author:** ![Nothar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nothar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nothar)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379/2 "2013-03-31T00:48:30Z")

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CPA checking in.

If she tried to deduct the expenses paid as medical expenses, she would have to justify that the payments were for actual medical services as defined by the IRS. This would depend on what the payments were for, as possibly certain parts of the payment could be for medical purposes and other parts would not be. The day care center may be able to help with this as many nursing homes and assisted living facilities will provide residents or members with statements showing how much of their admission fees or monthly payments are eligible as a medical deduction. For someone who is not a resident and only attends sporadically it may be more difficult to identify.  
She should consult both her doctor and the day care center with this question, as they should be very familiar with which activities may qualify.

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**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379/3 "2013-03-31T14:00:08Z")

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Not a CPA- but another possibility is the Child and Dependent Care credit. It doesn’t only cover child care.

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**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\
**Post date:** [March 31, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deductibility-of-adult-day-care-for-person-with-dementia-u-s/654379/4 "2013-03-31T16:05:31Z")

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Thanks **Nothar** , and I’ll be on the phone tomorrow trying to run this down.

> [@doreen](#):
>
> Not a CPA- but another possibility is the Child and Dependent Care credit. It doesn’t only cover child care.

The key here is that she is financially self-sufficient; she is not anyone’s dependent. Different situation than if I were paying for it.