taxes- disability question

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Kristina1

Senior member
Joined
Jan 26, 2017
Messages
822
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
03/2017
Country
US
State
MA
City
Grafton
My husband is doing our taxes right now..yes on the last day lol. It is asking if I was disabled in 2016. I was diagnosed in 2017, but my symptoms started in December 2015, and progressively developed over the 2016 year. So I know from my doctor at the ALS clinic that technically I had ALS in 2016, though my diagnosis occurred in 2017.

Should my husband claim on the tax form that I was disabled in 2016, or not until 2017 taxes?
 
I believe in order to take that credit you need to have received disability income. Not an accountant though
 
For the IRS, "disability" means unable to work "substantially."

While researching this awhile back, we found that if you're doing a little bit of work in a protected environment, that's OK. So if your boss is amenable to you taking time off and taking naps, etc, that's a "protected" job. You could make up to about $12,000 annually in a job like that, and still be officially disabled.

There's a full discussion at:How to Claim the Disability Tax Credit - Lawyers.com


There's an IRS form here: https://www.irs.gov/uac/about-publication-524
 
Well in this case it was for money we have spent on childcare due to my disability. My husband recently began working from home one day a week to help me out, and we have used a friend for additional childcare help over the course of the diagnosis process (lots of lengthy doctor's appointments). But I think most of that has been in 2017 so we will probably not be claiming it after all.
 
I don't know how it works in the States, but in Canada I was able to go back to initial symptoms. That got me money for 3 years prior to diagnosis. Worth looking into.
Vincent
 
Ya Vincent I was the same.
Al
 
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