Tax deduction for accessible house?

[Sunshine]

A friend said there may be certain deductions for building a handicap house.

What do you know about that?

[stillstANNding]

A very good question. Cheri might know something about this. I believe she got a deduction for meeting certain criteria for her therapeutic pool room.

ANN

[Sunshine]

Was hoping to get deduct for my pool too. Can only exercise in water.

[Catdancer]

Here is a link that I trust that talks about what are..and are not...tax deductible items for accessibility: Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

It appears that building an accessible home from scratch would *not* be deductible, because supposedly the new home would "add value" to the home. A pool MAY be deductible if you can get your doctor to sign off on it.

I think your best bet would be to find a good tax attorney, one who specializes in disability law. He/she would be able to give you to best and most current advice...

[Cherie]

In 2006 we added a "therapy room " to our house and put in a cool water Jacuzzi into it where I could do water exercise since my foot was so badly broken that I could not walk or do weight bearing exercise. This looked like a long term problem since my osteoporosis was so severe (from years of steroid use).
Because I had tried several other alternatives (the "Y" and the University pool) and had found them to be unsafe ...too slippery on the pool deck with crutches and a fall hazard....I had a prescription for water therapy and no where to do it safely. We were told by our accountant and it was confirmed by the tax assessor in our town, that the addition would be deductible to the extent beyond what value it added to our property. It cost $39,000 to build and finish with the pool and added some value to the property by increasing the tax assessment but ultimately we got to take a tax deduction of $25,000 that year on our taxes. You can add to your home but not build an accessible home to my knowledge. Hope this helps.

[Sunshine]

Thanks......