Please help ASAP Cheryl is a successful attorney licensed in Connecticut and is
ID: 2597772 • Letter: P
Question
Please help ASAP Cheryl is a successful attorney licensed in Connecticut and is your new tax client. Her sister-in-law, Joy, is married and lives in the next town. Unfortunately, Joy was diagnosed this summer with bone cancer, called chondasarcoma, and has been in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City and has had 6 surgeries during the 5 weeks there in the ICU. Cheryl estimates that the medical bill for the hospital will be upwards of $500,000. Joy does not have good medical insurance nor good finances. Cheryl would like to pay $50,000 of Joy's medical expenses by the end of December. How can Cheryl account for this payment on her personal tax return for 2017? Please explain in detail (at least 3 substantive sentences.)
Explanation / Answer
1. As per IRS, a person can take deduction of medical expenses paid for self, spouse or dependents. Dependents as per IRS can be any of the following:
a. The person was a qualifying child (defined later) or a qualifying relative (defined later), and
b. The person was a U.S. citizen or national or a resident of the United States, Canada, or Mexico.
Sister-in law falls in the category of qualifying relative as per IRS. Therefore, in the given case since Joy is dependent of Cheryl and also citizen of US. Cheryl can take deduction of medical bill paid on behalf of Joy amounting to $50,000.