Attendant Care Expenses Paid to a Retirement Home
For seniors who are eligible to claim the disability amount, attendant care expenses paid to a retirement home may be claimed as a medical expense. To claim this amount, a receipt must be provided from the retirement home, detailing the amount paid for attendant care. Eligible attendant care costs would include the salaries and wages of employees of the retirement home who provide the services of meal preparation, health care, housekeeping for the resident's individual living space, laundry service for the resident's personal laundry, transportation services, and security in secured units.
Rent expense and food costs cannot be included as medical expenses. If the above mentioned attendant care expenses are provided by the retirement home, but not invoiced separately, the home should be asked to provide a receipt which details the portion of the total payment which would reasonably apply as attendant care.
Please see the attendant care expenses article for information on how the attendant care expenses can be deducted, as the taxpayer has a choice in how it is done.