Publication 554
Older Americans' Tax Guide

For use in preparing 2002 Returns

4. Deductions

Most taxpayers have a choice of taking a standard deduction or itemizing their deductions. You benefit from the standard deduction if your standard deduction is more than the total of your allowable itemized deductions. If you have a choice, you should use the method that gives you the lower tax.

Standard Deduction

The standard deduction is a dollar amount that reduces the amount of income on which you are taxed. It is a benefit that eliminates the need for many taxpayers to itemize actual deductions. The standard deduction is higher for taxpayers who are age 65 or older or blind.

The standard deduction amounts for most taxpayers under age 65 are shown in Table 4-1.

2000 standard deduction tables

Persons not eligible for the standard deduction.   Your standard deduction is zero and you should itemize any deductions you have if:

• You are married and filing a separate return, and your spouse itemizes deductions,
• You are filing a tax return for a short tax year because of a change in your annual accounting period, or
• You are a nonresident or dual-status alien during the year. You are considered a dual-status alien if you were both a nonresident alien and a resident alien during the year. If you are a nonresident alien who is married to a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the year, you can choose to be treated as a U.S. resident. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens. If you make this choice, you can take the standard deduction.

Higher standard deduction for age 65 or older.   You are entitled to a higher standard deduction if you are age 65 or older at the end of the year. You are considered 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. Therefore, you can take the higher standard deduction for 2002 if your 65th birthday was on or before January 1, 2003.

Use Table 4-2 to find the amount of your standard deduction.

Higher standard deduction for blindness.   If you are blind on the last day of the year and you do not itemize deductions, you are entitled to a higher standard deduction. Use Table 4-2 to find the amount. You qualify for this benefit if you are totally or partly blind.

Partly blind.   If you are partly blind, you must get a certified statement from an eye physician or registered optometrist that:

• You cannot see better than 20/200 in the better eye with glasses or contact lenses, or
• Your field of vision is not more than 20 degrees.

If your eye condition will never improve beyond these limits, the statement should include this fact. You must keep the statement in your records.

If your vision can be corrected beyond these limits only by contact lenses that you can wear only briefly because of pain, infection, or ulcers, you can take the higher standard deduction for blindness if you otherwise qualify.

Spouse 65 or older or blind.   You can take a higher standard deduction if your spouse is age 65 or older or blind and:

1. You file a joint return, or
2. You file a separate return and can claim an exemption for your spouse because your spouse had no gross income and an exemption for your spouse could not be claimed by another taxpayer.

You cannot claim the higher standard deduction for an individual other than yourself and your spouse.

Decedents.   The amount of the standard deduction for a decedent's final return is the same as it would have been had the decedent continued to live. However, if the decedent was not 65 or older at the time of death, the higher standard deduction for age cannot be claimed.

Examples.   The following examples illustrate how to determine your standard deduction using Tables 4-1 and 4-2.

Example 1.   Larry, 66, and Donna, 67, are filing a joint return for 2002. Neither is blind. They decide not to itemize their deductions. They use Table 4-2. Their standard deduction is $9,650.

Example 2.   Assume the same facts as in Example 1 except that Larry is blind at the end of 2002. They use Table 4-2. Larry and Donna's standard deduction is $10,550.

Example 3.   Susan, 67, who is blind, qualifies as head of household in 2002. She has no itemized deductions. She uses Table 4-2. Her standard deduction is $9,200.

Standard Deduction for Dependents

The standard deduction for an individual for whom an exemption can be claimed on another person's tax return generally is limited to the greater of:

• $750, or
• The individual's earned income for the year plus $250 (but not more than the regular standard deduction amount, $4,700 for a single individual).

However, if the individual is age 65 or older or blind, his or her standard deduction may be higher. Use Table 4-3 to determine your standard deduction.

Itemized Deductions

Some individuals should itemize their deductions because it will save them money. Others should itemize because they do not qualify for the standard deduction. See the discussion under Standard Deduction, earlier, to decide if it would be to your advantage to itemize deductions.

Medical and dental expenses, some taxes, certain interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain losses, and other miscellaneous expenses may be itemized as deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).

You may be subject to a limit on some of your itemized deductions if your adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than $137,300 ($68,650 if you file married filing separately).

You may benefit from itemizing your deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040 if you:

• Cannot take the standard deduction,
• Had uninsured medical or dental expenses that are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (see Medical and Dental Expenses, later),
• Paid interest and taxes on your home,
• Had large unreimbursed employee business expenses or other miscellaneous deductions,
• Had large uninsured casualty or theft losses,
• Made large contributions to qualified charities (see Publication 526, Charitable Contributions), or
• Have total itemized deductions that are more than the highest standard deduction you can claim.

See the instructions for Schedule A in the Form 1040 instructions for more information.

Medical and Dental Expenses

You can deduct certain medical and dental expenses you paid for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents, if you itemize your deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040).

Table 4-4 shows items that you can or cannot include in figuring your medical expense deduction. More information can be found in Publication 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.

You can deduct only the amount of your medical and dental expenses that is more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income shown on line 35, Form 1040.

What to include.   You can include only the medical and dental expenses you paid this year, regardless of when the services were provided. If you pay medical expenses by check, the day you mail or deliver the check generally is the date of payment. If you use a pay-by-phone or on-line account to pay your medical expenses, the date reported on the statement of the financial institution showing when payment was made is the date of payment. You can include medical expenses you charge to your credit card in the year the charge is made. It does not matter when you actually pay the amount charged.

Medical Insurance Premiums

You can include in medical expenses insurance premiums you pay for policies that cover medical care. Policies can provide payment for:

• Hospitalization, surgical fees, X-rays, etc.,
• Prescription drugs,
• Replacement of lost or damaged contact lenses,
• Qualified long-term care insurance contracts, or
• Membership in an association that gives cooperative or so-called free-choice medical service, or group hospitalization and clinical care.

You cannot deduct insurance premiums paid with pretax dollars because the premiums are not included in box 1 of your Form W-2.

If you have a policy that provides more than one kind of payment, you can include the premiums for the medical care part of the policy if the charge for the medical part is reasonable. The cost of the medical portion must be separately stated in the insurance contract or given to you in a separate statement.

Medicare A.   If you are covered under social security (or if you are a government employee who paid Medicare tax), you are enrolled in Medicare A. The payroll tax paid for Medicare A is not a medical expense. If you are not covered under social security (or were not a government employee who paid Medicare tax), you can enroll voluntarily in Medicare A. In this situation, the premiums paid for Medicare A can be included as a medical expense on your tax return.

Medicare B.   Medicare B is a supplemental medical insurance. Premiums you pay for Medicare B are a medical expense. If you applied for it at age 65 or after you became disabled, you can deduct the monthly premiums you paid. If you were over age 65 or disabled when you first enrolled, check the information you received from the Social Security Administration to find out your premium.

Prepaid insurance premiums.   Insurance premiums you pay before you are age 65 for medical care after you reach age 65 for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents, are medical care expenses in the year paid if they are:

• Payable in equal yearly installments, or more often, and
• Payable for at least 10 years, or until you reach 65 (but not for less than 5 years).

Meals and Lodging

You can include in medical expenses the cost of meals and lodging at a hospital or similar institution if your main reason for being there is to receive medical care.

You may be able to include in medical expenses the cost of lodging not provided in a hospital or similar institution. You can include the cost of such lodging while away from home if you meet all of the following requirements.

1. The lodging is primarily for, and essential to, medical care.
2. The medical care is provided by a doctor in a licensed hospital or in a medical care facility related to, or the equivalent of, a licensed hospital.
3. The lodging is not lavish or extravagant under the circumstances.
4. There is no significant element of personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation in the travel away from home.

The amount you include in medical expenses for lodging cannot be more than $50 per night for each person. You can include lodging for a person traveling with the person receiving the medical care. For example, if a parent is traveling with a sick child, up to $100 per night is included as a medical expense for lodging. (Meals are not included.)

Nursing home.   You can include in medical expenses the cost of medical care in a nursing home or a home for the aged for yourself, your spouse, or your dependents. This includes the cost of meals and lodging in the home if the main reason for being there is to get medical care.

Do not include the cost of meals and lodging if the reason for being in the home is personal. You can, however, include in medical expenses the part of the cost that is for medical or nursing care.

Medical and Dental Expenses Checklist

Transportation

Amounts paid for transportation primarily for, and essential to, medical care qualify as medical expenses.

You can include:  

• Bus, taxi, train, or plane fares or ambulance service payments,
• Transportation expenses of a nurse or other person who can give injections, medications, or other treatment required by a patient who is traveling to get medical care and is unable to travel alone, and
• Actual car expenses, such as gas, oil, parking fees, and tolls. Instead of deducting actual car expenses, you can deduct 13 cents a mile for use of your car for medical reasons. Add the cost of parking fees and tolls to this amount.

  You cannot include depreciation, insurance, or general repair and maintenance expenses on your car, no matter which method you choose to figure the deduction.

Do not include transportation expenses if, for nonmedical reasons, you choose to travel to another city, such as a resort area, for an operation or other medical care prescribed by your doctor.

Home Improvements

Only reasonable costs to accommodate a personal residence to a person's disabled condition are considered medical care. Additional costs for personal motives, such as for architectural or aesthetic reasons, are not medical expenses. Publication 502 contains additional information and examples, including a capital expense worksheet, to assist you in figuring the amount of the capital expense that you can include in your medical expenses. Also, see Publication 502 for information about deductible operating and upkeep expenses related to such capital expense items, and for information about improvement, for medical reasons, to property rented by a person with disabilities.

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