Tax deduction on medically-necessary equipment (motorized stair lift)?

Submitted by stairliftquestion t3_ydnbh6 in personalfinance

Hello. My grandmother, who is a Pakistani citizen, will be staying in my house in California for a month. She has a lot of trouble going up the stairs. I see that the installation of a motorized stair lift has a tax deduction, but will this work if the person with the medical need is not a US citizen? Do we need any documentation to get this approved? I can’t tell if this is for people with disabilities that are legally recognized by the state, or if my grandma would qualify.

Or are there any other tax credits I should know about?

Also, if you have any other recommendations for ways to help elderly people get up and down stairs, that would be much appreciated!

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fawningandconning t1_itt7vg3 wrote

No tax credits as you cannot claim her as your dependent.

As for the stair part, this did work really well for my grandparents, but it seems ridiculously unnecessary to do it for a month if this is not a long term solution.

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[deleted] t1_itt86zm wrote

[deleted]

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grokfinance t1_itt8g6y wrote

And you would only be able to deduct if you can claim grandmother as a dependent, which in the scenario you outline you could not. So therefore, no tax benefit.

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No_Tension_280 t1_itt9oxj wrote

Do you have laundry room on ground floor? Could you rig something up there. For a month visit, you could route the used shower water out back . For toilet, you could rent a portapotty. The handicapped ones are big, and if just a person or two for the week, it wouldn't be stinky like portapotties at events. You might be able to rent a shower too for like construction site or camping

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