Financial Answer Center
- Introduction
- Will Medicaid Pay Your Nursing Home Bill?
- Should You Buy a Long-Term Care Policy?
- Shopping for a Long-Term Care Policy
- Tax Benefit of Long-Term Care Premiums
The cost of tax-qualified LTC insurance premiums (LTC premiums) are deductible for federal income taxes as LTC is considered a medical expense. For an individual who itemizes tax deductions, medical expenses are deductible to the extent that they exceed 10% of the individual's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) (7.5% in 2018). The amount of the LTC premium treated as a medical expense is limited to the eligible LTC premiums and is based on the age of the insured individual. That portion of the LTC premium that exceeds the eligible LTC premium is not included as a medical expense.
Individual taxpayers can treat premiums paid for tax-qualified LTC insurance for themselves, their spouse or any tax dependents (such as parents) as a personal medical expense.
If you are self-employed, you can deduct 100 percent of premium amounts (up to the limit) you paid for long-term care insurance. Note that the policy must be "tax-qualified" to receive these benefits.
