The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has announced the amount taxpayers can deduct from their 2020 income as a result of buying long-term care insurance.

Premiums for “qualified” long-term care insurance policies are tax deductible for the taxpayer, his or her spouse and other dependents to the extent that the premiums, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses (including Medicare premiums), exceed 10 percent of the insured’s adjusted gross income. If you are self-employed, the tax-deductibility rules are a little different: You can take the amount of the premium as a deduction as long as you made a net profit; your medical expenses do not have to exceed a certain percentage of your income.

To be considered as a “qualified long-term care insurance policy,” policies issued on or after January 1, 1997 must adhere to certain requirements, among them that the policy must offer the consumer the options of “inflation” and “nonforfeiture” protection, although the consumer can choose not to purchase these features. Policies purchased before January 1, 1997 will be grandfathered and treated as “qualified” as long as they have been approved by the insurance commissioner of the state in which they are sold.

The tax deductions allowed by the IRS for long-term care insurance premiums are generally not available with so-called hybrid policies, such as life insurance and annuity policies with a long-term care benefit.

There is a limit on how large a premium can be deducted, depending on the age of the taxpayer at the end of the year. Following are the deductibility limits for tax year 2020. Any premium amounts for the year above these limits are not considered to be a medical expense.

Attained age before the close of the taxable year Maximum deduction for year
40 or less $430
More than 40 but not more than 50 $810
More than 50 but not more than 60 $1,630
More than 60 but not more than 70 $4,350
More than 70 $5,430

Another change announced by the IRS involves benefits from per diem or indemnity policies, which pay a predetermined amount each day.  These benefits are not included in income except amounts that exceed the beneficiary’s total qualified long-term care expenses or $380 per day, whichever is greater.

(Adapted from an article on the ElderLawAnswers website. Mr. Vanarelli is a founding member of ElderLawAnswers.com.) 

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