Long-term care insurance is one way to protect your assets in retirement. The plans often pay for half of the cost of care in a nursing home, for example.
For the 2020 tax year, the deduction limits have increased, according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.
Age 2020 $ 2019 $
40 or less 430 420
40-49 810 790
50-59 1,630 1,580
60-69 4,350 4,220
70+ 5,430 5,270
These deductions are available under the medical care expenses that are not reimbursed during the tax year and exceed 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income. Your adjusted gross income (AGI) is your taxable income minus adjustments such as contributions to a traditional IRA, according to TurboTax. That means most people won’t be able to claim medical expenses as a tax deduction at all, until they retire.
Unreimbursed medical expenses can include preventative care, surgeries, dental and vision care, psychological care, prescription medications and medical devices such as glasses, contacts, false teeth and hearing aids.
Here is an example of a medical deduction from efile.com:
AGI is $40,000 and your medical expenses are $5,000. In 2019 and 2020, you can deduct 7.5 percent of unreimbursed medical expenses. So, multiply $40,000 by 7.5 percent. The result is $3,000. That is how much you can deduct. So, $2,000 of your $5,000 medical expenses are not deductible.
Keep in mind these deductions are not applicable to linked benefit policies, such as life insurance and annuity policies.
