If you pay a parent's medical expenses, you may be able to deduct the amount that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income as an itemized deduction, per the IRS. You can include a parent's medical bills even if you cannot claim them as a dependent, as long as you provide over half their support and meet the relationship test. You may also claim a parent as a dependent if their gross income is under the annual limit — $5,200 for 2025; the 2026 figure is indexed and not yet published.
Saving money
What Tax Deductions Can I Claim for Caring for an Elderly Parent's Medical Expenses? (2026)
By Chuck Brodsky, Co-Founder, MediNav · Updated July 2026 · 7 min read
✓ Every figure checked against official sources. How we keep this accurate →
Quick answer
Caring for a parent is expensive, and some of that cost can come back at tax time. The rules are specific but favorable to caregivers who pay medical bills, and knowing them before you file can be worth real money.
The medical expense deduction
You can deduct unreimbursed medical and dental expenses to the extent they exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, as an itemized deduction on Schedule A, per the IRS. This only helps if you itemize rather than take the standard deduction, and only the portion above the 7.5% floor counts. But medical costs for an aging parent — nursing care, certain long-term-care services, medical equipment, transportation to care — add up quickly and can push you over that floor.
You can count a parent's bills even without claiming them
Here is the caregiver-friendly part: you can include medical expenses you paid for a parent even if you cannot claim them as a dependent, provided the only reason you cannot is that the parent's gross income is too high or they filed a joint return, per IRS Publication 502. You still must provide more than half of the parent's support and meet the relationship test. So a parent with, say, Social Security income too high to be your dependent can still have the medical bills you paid counted toward your deduction.
Claiming a parent as a dependent
Separately, you may be able to claim a parent as a qualifying-relative dependent. The main hurdle is the gross income test: the parent's gross income for the year must be under the IRS limit — $5,200 for 2025, per IRS Publication 501. That figure is adjusted for inflation each year, and the IRS has not yet published the 2026 amount, so confirm the current-year figure before you file. Social Security benefits are often not counted as gross income for this test, which helps more parents qualify than families expect.
The dependent care credit and shared support
If a parent is physically or mentally incapable of self-care and lives with you, care costs that let you work may qualify for the Child and Dependent Care Credit, with eligible expenses limited to $3,000 for one qualifying person, per the IRS. The credit rate changed under 2025 tax legislation, so verify the current-year rate. And when several siblings together provide more than half a parent's support but none provides more than half alone, they can use a multiple support agreement, IRS Form 2120, to let one sibling claim the parent — each contributor must have paid more than 10% of support.
What a caregiver should do
Track every dollar you spend on a parent's medical care through the year, and keep receipts. At tax time, see whether those costs — plus your own — exceed 7.5% of your income, and whether you can claim your parent or use a multiple support agreement with siblings. Because tax figures change annually and 2026 amounts are still pending, confirm the current-year numbers with the IRS or a tax professional.
When to call MediNav
- Free: Ask a specific question — tell us what you spend on a parent's care and get a straight answer on the tax breaks available.
- Free: Run the coverage check — in about two minutes, see what a parent is likely eligible for with 2026 figures for your state.
- Paid ($9–$19/mo): MediNav Watch and Watch+ re-check the figures as they change each year and remind you before deadlines, so nothing lapses unnoticed.
Related guides
- Does Medicare Pay Family Caregivers?, getting paid to care for a parent
- How to Lower Medicare Costs, programs that cut what you pay
- Medicare 101 for Adult Children, the caregiver starting point
- The Sandwich-Generation Playbook, managing a parent's care and money
Frequently asked questions
What if my parent's income is too high to claim as a dependent?
You may still deduct the medical expenses you paid for them. The IRS lets you include a parent's medical bills even when you cannot claim them, if the only reason is their gross income or a joint return, as long as you provide over half their support and meet the relationship test. Keep records of what you paid.
How much of my parent's medical costs can I deduct?
Only the portion of total unreimbursed medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income, and only if you itemize. Medical costs you paid for a qualifying parent count toward that total along with your own, so tracking every expense helps you clear the 7.5% floor.
Can I claim my elderly parent as a dependent?
Possibly, as a qualifying relative. The key test is gross income: the parent's gross income must be under the IRS limit — $5,200 for 2025, with the 2026 figure indexed and not yet published. You must also provide over half their support. Social Security benefits often do not count as gross income for this test.
Do Social Security benefits count against the dependent income limit?
Generally, non-taxable Social Security benefits are not counted as gross income for the qualifying-relative test, which is why many parents on Social Security can still be claimed. Other income — pensions, wages, taxable interest — does count. Check the current-year rules, since the income limit is adjusted annually.
What if my siblings and I share our parent's care costs?
If together you provide more than half your parent's support but none of you provides more than half alone, you can use a multiple support agreement, IRS Form 2120. One sibling claims the parent that year, and each other sibling who paid more than 10% of support signs a waiver. Siblings can rotate who claims the parent year to year.
Are these figures the same for 2026?
Some are set by statute and stable, like the 7.5% medical-expense floor and the $3,000 dependent-care expense limit for one person. Others, like the dependent gross income limit ($5,200 for 2025) and the dependent-care credit rate, change or are indexed annually, and the IRS has not published all 2026 amounts. Confirm current figures before filing.
Sources: IRS — Topic No. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses, IRS Publication 501 — Dependents, IRS — Topic No. 602, Child and Dependent Care Credit, IRS — About Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration. Last verified July 2026.