Tax Tips for Families

As April 15th approaches families of students who may have special learning needs should be mindful of the tax deductions and other considerations that may help reduce the impact of private school tuition, special medical services, and some support services. The key to these benefits is that medical expenses are deductible, with limits, from your tax return. This will be the case for dependent children and, of course, for young adults who file their own tax returns.

The best discussion of these issues that we have seen can be found on the website Great Schools. Keep in mind that although some of the language in that article refers to serious learning disabilities, families of children with all kinds of learning difficulties may be eligible for tax benefits, so long as their child's school program is designed to remediate the specific learning difficulty. The key is to be aware of the issues and to raise them with your tax advisor (or keep them in mind as you use your tax preparation software). We all know raising kids is expensive. Being aware of tax benefits can help!