Taxes, Cash & Savings · Surprise rank #276
Paying for Long-Term Care Insurance? New York Gives You Back 20% of the Premiums
New York gives a state tax credit worth 20% of what you pay in qualifying long-term care insurance premiums, capped at $1,500 a year. You can even claim it for premiums you pay on someone else's policy — like a parent's.
Who
New York taxpayers, including nonresidents and part-year residents, who pay premiums on a long-term care policy approved by the New York Superintendent of Financial Services under Insurance Law §1117, or a qualifying out-of-state group contract. Your New York adjusted gross income must be under $250,000.
Where: New York State income tax filers statewide, including NYC, Nassau and Suffolk.
What to do
Start here: File Form IT-249, Claim for Long-Term Care Insurance Credit, with your New York return (corporations use Form CT-249). Ask your insurer for a premium statement showing the total paid in the tax year, and confirm the policy is New York-approved.
Eligibility: New York adjusted gross income under $250,000 (for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2020); premiums paid on a policy approved under Insurance Law §1117 that is also a qualified long-term care contract under IRC §7702B, or a qualifying group contract issued outside New York. Nonresidents and part-year residents prorate by their New York source fraction.
What you get
This is a nonrefundable credit against your New York State income tax equal to 20% of premiums paid during the tax year for a qualifying long-term care insurance policy. Employers who pay premiums for employees can also claim it. If the credit exceeds your tax liability in a given year, you can carry the unused portion forward to future years.
Benefit: 20% of your qualifying premiums back as a state tax credit, up to $1,500 per year.
Possible value: For a typical policy costing $2,000 to $4,000 a year, that is $400 to $800 back annually. You hit the $1,500 ceiling once premiums reach $7,500 a year. Over a decade of paying premiums the total can run into several thousand dollars.
Good to know
Important: Three things catch people out. The credit is nonrefundable, so it only reduces tax you actually owe — if you owe nothing, you get nothing back this year, though you can carry it forward. The $250,000 income cutoff and the $1,500 cap have applied only since 2020, so older guidance describing an uncapped 20% credit is out of date. And not every long-term care policy qualifies — it must be New York-approved under Insurance Law §1117, so confirm before assuming. A 2026 bill in the state Senate would raise the credit to 40% and the cap to $2,500, but that has not been enacted and is not current law.
Availability: Active for the current tax year. A proposed increase to 40% and a $2,500 cap has been introduced in the Legislature but is not law.
Why people miss it: Adult children who pay a parent's long-term care premiums assume the credit belongs to the policyholder, not the person writing the check — but the person paying the premium can claim it regardless of whether the insured is their dependent.
Sources reviewed: Aug 10, 2026