Question

Possibly. It depends on what income he has and, possibly, the source of it. See IRS Publication 501.

If they provide more than half his support they can deduct his medical expenses whether he qualifies as a dependent or not. See IRS Publication 502.

-- Phil Marti Clarksburg, MD

IRS Pub 521 (see link below) provides the complete rules for claiming a dependency exemption. IRS Pub 502 explains the rules for deducting medical expenses. The following explains the most relevant and what possibly may be sticking points. Assuming your brother is not self-supporting, he might be a qualifying child of his parents if he is permanently and totally disabled. For this purpose, permanently and totally disabled means he cannot engage in any substantial gainful activity because of a physical or mental condition and a doctor determines the condition has lasted or can be expected to last continuously for at least a year or can lead to death. If he does not meet this test, it is possible that he may be a qualifying relative. This would require that his parents are providing more than half of his total support and that his taxable gross income is less than $3300 in 2006. A taxpayer is allowed to deduct unreimbursed medical expenses paid for the benefit of a dependent. If your brother is not a qualifying child but would be a qualifying relative except for the fact that his gross income is too high, the law still would allow his parents to take the medical deduction as gross income is excluded from the formula.