Process

• Taxpayers can claim some home modifications made to aid people with disabilities as medical expenses. You should include these expenses on a Schedule A tax form for itemized deductions. However, the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, only allows people to deduct medical costs that exceed 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income. Even so, modifications that make homes more accessible for disabled people can be expensive. Therefore, you may not have a problem exceeding the required percentage to deduct home modifications as medical costs.
  
  

Deductions

• The IRS allows people to deduct expenses for medical equipment installed in a home or for home improvements to accommodate a disabled person. However, the main purpose for the improvements must be to assist the homeowner, a spouse or a dependent living in the home who has a disability. Qualifying expenses include installing ramps at a home's entrances to accommodate someone who uses a wheelchair. The costs associated with widening doorways and hallways to accommodate a wheelchair also are deductible.
  
  

Home Value

• The amount of allowable deductions for home modifications for people with disabilities partly depends on whether the changes made add value to the home. Expenses for modifications that generally don't add value to a home are fully deductible. According to the IRS, full deductions usually apply when homeowners add support bars around bathtubs and other areas, lower kitchen cabinets to make them easier to access, and modify stairways for easier passage. Only a portion of the cost of permanent changes to a home are deductible as medical expenses if they also increase the value of the home. That's because the increase in the home's value reduces the cost of the modification. The difference between those two factors is deductible as a medical expense.
  
  

Maintenance Costs

• Maintenance costs associated with home modifications made for a disabled person also are deductible as medical expenses. For example, the costs of replacement parts for a lift that transports a disabled person up and down stairs are deductible. Costs associated with repairing an entrance ramp would be deductible as well. However, the IRS disallows deductions for modifications made solely to improve the appearance of a home even if a disabled person lives in the home.