Income tax update: I reported recently that RI has eliminated itemized deductions in favor of a standard deduction which directly impacts nursing home residents by disallowing the deduction for nursing home cost. To add insult to this issue, Rhode Island has also set an arbitrary income limit of $175,000. After 175,000 you begin to lose your standard deduction and your exemption deductions...

In tax year 2011 RI has eliminated the itemized deduction allowing a standard deduction of $7,500 for a single individual. The good news is that taxpayers can still itemize nursing home cost on their federal return, but this cost cannot be carried over to the RI state return. Only a $7,500 standard deduction can be taken. The nursing home resident can incur nursing home cost of $50,000 to...