Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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Federal, exists in every state

Tax refunds and treatment-related deductions

A change in annual earnings can change tax credits. Treatment costs can also make itemizing worthwhile.

What it is

A change in annual earnings can change tax credits. Treatment costs can also make itemizing worthwhile.

A year with different earnings can move federal tax credits up or down. Treatment bills, mileage and lodging count toward the medical deduction only above 7.5% of adjusted gross income, and only if you itemize. A preparer can compare the options.

Rules
  • Connecticut’s refundable EITC requires federal EITC eligibility and full-year Connecticut residency, including the tax year’s earnings, qualifying-child and identifying-number rules. The credit is 40% of federal EITC, plus $250 per eligible filer with at least one qualifying child from tax year 2025. The combined 2025 maximum is $3,468. For 2026, the formula gives $3,542.40 before return rounding; that is a calculation, not a published final state table. It is claimed on CT-1040 with Schedule CT-EITC, including through myconneCT.
  • Only unreimbursed medical expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income are deductible, and only if you itemize. Mileage to treatment counts at the IRS medical rate (20.5 cents a mile through June 2026, 23.5 from July).
  • Refundable credits are paid only after a tax return is filed, even when no tax is owed.
What you get
  • Federal credits, part of them refundable, paid on a filed return.
  • A refundable Connecticut credit based on your federal earned income credit, with an extra amount for eligible parents.
  • A possible medical-expense deduction when qualifying unreimbursed costs are high enough to itemize.
What to keep
  • Every bill, insurance statement, parking, mileage and lodging record for treatment trips, from now.
If you decide to apply
  1. Keep treatment receipts and mileage from today.
  2. Ask a tax preparer to check Connecticut credits and any unclaimed prior tax years.
  3. Ask a free tax-help service (VITA) or a qualified preparer to review credits and the medical deduction at filing time.

IRS: medical-expense deduction · Official page ↗

Missed years
  • The ordinary 2025 return deadline was April 15, 2026; an applicable extension can run to October 15, 2026. A tax preparer or DRS checks missed-year refund deadlines and exceptions separately from federal deadlines.
Good to know

A credit, a refundable amount and a deduction are three different things; a preparer should check them before anyone promises a refund. Today’s benefit-screening income is not the tax-year figure.

Other details
  • Federal credits and deductions change by tax year; confirm the year’s figures when you file.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Is there free tax help you recommend, and should we be keeping treatment receipts and mileage for a medical deduction?”

Why I’m asking: We want to claim any refund we are due in a year with different income and high bills.

More background and detailed requirements

How this works

Connecticut’s refundable earned-income credit is 40% of the federal EITC, plus $250 for an eligible filer with at least one qualifying child—not $250 per child. For tax year 2025 the maximum combined state amount is $3,468; for tax year 2026 the formula gives up to $3,542.40 before return rounding. Eligibility depends on the tax year’s earnings, federal EITC rules, full-year Connecticut residency and identifying-number requirements. Your social worker can help find free tax help to check the correct year and any missed refund deadlines.

For federal taxes, qualifying unreimbursed medical expenses are deductible only when you itemize and only above 7.5% of adjusted gross income. Keep medical bills, insurance payment statements and travel records; a large bill does not automatically produce a deduction or refund.

  1. Ask a tax preparer to check Connecticut credits and any unclaimed prior tax years.
  2. Ask a qualified tax preparer or free tax-help service to review federal credits and your medical-expense records.

Before you start

  • Tax-year income and family rules differ from today's benefit-screening income.
  • An eligible full-year Connecticut resident claims the state EITC on Form CT-1040 with Schedule CT-EITC. The tax year’s federal EITC, earnings, qualifying-child and identifying-number rules matter; this questionnaire does not calculate a refund.

Tax-year income and family rules differ from today's benefit-screening income.

Connecticut’s EITC is 40% of the federal EITC plus a $250 addition for an eligible filer with at least one qualifying child, starting in tax year 2025. A preparer should check the correct year, return rounding and any prior-year refund deadline; the $250 is not per child.

Special rules govern medical lodging, mileage, employer dependent-care accounts and Medicaid caregiver payments. Have the preparer verify the applicable tax year.

Do not withdraw retirement funds or change ownership of assets based only on an expected tax benefit.

Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Keep the mileage log, parking and lodging receipts and every medical bill; file even in a year you owe nothing.

Your social worker

Points you to a free VITA tax site and, if a parent is paid by Medicaid for home care, to the paperwork that marks that pay as excludable.

The care team

Records and letters when the application asks for them.

Who decides
The IRS, on the return you file
Ask your social worker
“Is there a free tax help site for families here? If a parent is paid through Medicaid for our child's home care, what paperwork marks that pay as excludable?”

How to apply

First step: Start a mileage and lodging log now, keep every medical bill, and ask the social worker for the free VITA tax site near you.

  1. Start a mileage and lodging log the week of diagnosis.
  2. Ask HR about the dependent-care account when a sibling needs paid care so a parent can work.
  3. File even in a year with no tax owed; the child tax credit and earned income credit can still pay.

Where it starts: Federal tax return; free VITA tax sites for lower-income families

What to gather

  • A mileage log with dates and destinations
  • Parking, toll and lodging receipts
  • Every medical bill and the insurance statements showing what you paid
  • The employer's dependent-care account form, if offered

How long: Settled on the tax return for the year. A refund follows filing.

What a yes looks like

A smaller tax bill or a refund that reflects the deduction and the credits.

What a no looks like, and the next move

The standard deduction beats itemizing: the mileage and lodging are then unused, but the child tax credit and earned income credit still apply.

Watch out

  • Throwing away the mileage log. Hospital trips at 20.5 cents a mile (January to June 2026) and 23.5 cents (July to December), plus parking and tolls, add up over a treatment year.
  • The lodging cap is $50 a night per person, meals not included, and only for stays needed for care at a hospital.
  • The $7,500 dependent-care account is for care that lets the parents work, such as a sibling's daycare. It is set up through an employer, usually at open enrollment or after a family change.
  • Not every Medicaid-paid wage is excludable. The exclusion is for care of someone living in the provider's home under a Medicaid program; ask the program for its form.
  • Retirement money is a last resort with tax costs. A medical hardship withdrawal does not itself waive the early-withdrawal penalty. The medical-expense penalty exception covers only qualifying expenses above 7.5% of adjusted gross income; ordinary income tax still applies to untaxed money.
  • The emergency personal-expense withdrawal exception has separate balance, annual and repeat-use limits. Ask the plan administrator or tax preparer before using it; penalty relief is not an exemption from ordinary income tax.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 10, 2026.

What it is worth

Medical costs above 7.5% of income deductible if you itemize; mileage 20.5 cents (January–June 2026) and 23.5 cents (July–December); lodging $50 a night per person; dependent-care account $7,500; child tax credit up to $2,200 a child.

  • $7.5 (only the part above this counts, and only if you itemize) — Medical-expense deduction floor
  • $20.5 — Medical mileage, January to June 2026
  • $23.5 — Medical mileage, July to December 2026
  • $50 (an accompanying parent counts; meals do not) — Lodging away from home for care, per person per night
  • $7,500/year — Dependent-care account (FSA) limit, 2026
  • $3,750/year — Dependent-care account limit, married filing separately, 2026
  • $2,200/year (maximum; not a guaranteed refund) — Child tax credit per qualifying child, 2026

Legal protection: Pay from Medicaid to a parent who provides the child's home care in the same home can be left out of federal income (IRS Notice 2014-7, since January 3, 2014) · That excluded pay can still be counted as earned income for the earned income credit, all of it or none · Parking and tolls count on top of the mileage rate

What it costs the family: None. A free VITA tax site or a preparer can run the numbers.

The eligibility facts, as published

Deduction
itemizers; unreimbursed medical costs above 7.5% of adjusted gross income
Dependent care account
through an employer plan; care that lets the parents work; limited by earned income
Child tax credit
per qualifying child; maximum $2,200 in 2026
Notice 2014 7
qualifying Medicaid waiver payments to a provider living in the same home as the person cared for; not every Medicaid-paid wage

Decisions this site cannot make: The tax return

Expect friction on: Receipts and a mileage log · Itemizing versus the standard deduction

The trap: Throwing away the mileage log. The rate is 20.5 cents a mile for January to June 2026 and 23.5 cents from July; parking and tolls are on top. The lodging cap is $50 a night per person, meals not included.

What changes by state: Nothing here is state law. Some states add their own credits; a tax preparer or a free VITA site can check.

Where I read this

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