You cannot claim commissary on your taxes. Money you send to an incarcerated family member for food, hygiene items, writing supplies, or other commissary purchases is a personal expense, and federal tax law does not allow deductions for personal spending. The rule does not change because the store is inside a prison or because your loved one has no other way to get the items.
That is the short answer. The longer answer is worth reading if you support someone in prison, because a handful of related tax benefits do exist, and most families either miss the ones they qualify for or assume they qualify for ones they don’t.
Why Commissary Spending Isn’t Deductible
Under 26 U.S.C. § 262, no deduction is allowed for personal, living, or family expenses unless another part of the tax code specifically creates an exception.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 262 – Personal, Living, and Family Expenses Commissary items are consumer goods bought for someone’s personal use. The nature of the expense controls the tax treatment, so it does not matter that the purchase runs through a state prison system or that your family member depends on you for the money.
Other Prison-Related Costs That Are Also Not Deductible
The same rule sweeps in almost everything else families spend money on when a loved one is locked up:
- Phone calls, video visits, and messaging fees, which are treated like any personal phone bill.
- Travel to visit an incarcerated family member, including gas and hotels.
- Money transfer fees charged by third-party vendors that process deposits into inmate trust accounts.
- Bail bond fees. Bail itself is a refundable deposit rather than an expense, and the non-refundable premium paid to a bondsman is a personal cost for a financial service.
- Electronic monitoring fees, such as charges for GPS ankle bracelets or home-confinement equipment.
- Criminal fines and court-ordered restitution. Fines and penalties paid to a government for breaking the law are specifically non-deductible.2Internal Revenue Service. Publication 529 Miscellaneous Deductions
- Criminal defense attorney fees, which exist to protect personal liberty rather than to produce income.
If an expense exists because of a criminal case or an incarcerated person’s daily needs, assume it does not reduce your tax bill unless one of the narrow exceptions below applies.
Can You Claim an Incarcerated Person as a Dependent?
The exceptions that follow generally require the incarcerated person to be your dependent, so this is the first thing to check.
An Incarcerated Child
The IRS treats incarceration as a “temporary absence” for the residency test, which means a son or daughter who is locked up is still considered to have lived with you during that time.3Internal Revenue Service. Publication 4491 – Dependents The other qualifying-child tests still apply: the child must be under 19 (or under 24 if a full-time student), not provide more than half of their own support, and not file a joint return with a spouse.
An Incarcerated Adult
An adult in prison can potentially qualify as your “qualifying relative” under 26 U.S.C. § 152.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 152 – Dependent Defined Beyond the relationship requirement, two tests decide it:
- Gross income test. The person’s gross income for the year must be less than $5,300 in 2026. Prison wages are typically low enough that most incarcerated people clear this test easily.5Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-32 – 2026 Adjusted Items
- Support test. You must provide more than half of the person’s total support for the year. The government’s cost of housing, feeding, and providing medical care to the inmate counts as support, and it is usually substantial.6Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 (2025), Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
The support test is where most claims for an incarcerated adult fall apart. What you send in commissary deposits and phone funds rarely exceeds half of the person’s total support once state-provided room, board, and medical care are added in.
Medical Expenses You Pay for an Incarcerated Dependent
If the incarcerated person does qualify as your dependent, unreimbursed medical and dental expenses you pay on their behalf may be deductible under 26 U.S.C. § 213.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 213 – Medical, Dental, Etc., Expenses The definition of “dependent” for medical expenses is a little broader than the standard one because the gross income test is waived. Even if the person’s income disqualifies them as your dependent for other purposes, their medical expenses can still be deductible as long as the relationship and support tests are met.
Two things limit how useful this is in practice. You have to itemize on Schedule A rather than take the standard deduction, which for 2026 is $16,100 for single filers and $32,200 for married couples filing jointly.8Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 And only the portion of qualifying medical expenses that exceeds 7.5% of your adjusted gross income is deductible.9Internal Revenue Service. Publication 502 (2025), Medical and Dental Expenses Someone earning $50,000 gets no benefit from the first $3,750 in medical costs. Few families reach the threshold through prison-related medical costs alone.
The Child Tax Credit If Your Child Is in a Juvenile Facility
Because the IRS treats incarceration as a temporary absence, a child held in a juvenile facility can still count as having lived with you for more than half the year. If the child is under 17 at the end of the tax year, is claimed as your dependent, and meets the other standard requirements, you may still claim the Child Tax Credit, worth up to $2,200 per qualifying child for 2026.10Internal Revenue Service. Child Tax Credit
One Narrow Legal Fee Exception
Criminal defense fees are personal expenses and are not deductible. There is one legal-fee exception worth knowing about: if the incarcerated person (or a former inmate) files a lawsuit alleging unlawful discrimination or civil rights violations, attorney fees and court costs from that litigation can be taken as an above-the-line adjustment to income under 26 U.S.C. § 62(a)(20).11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 62 – Adjusted Gross Income Defined The deduction is capped at the amount of income the plaintiff receives from the case in the same tax year, and because it is above-the-line, itemizing is not required. This applies to the plaintiff’s own return rather than to a family member paying commissary bills, but it comes up often enough in this context to name.
The Practical Takeaway
Deposits into a commissary or trust account are not deductible, and neither are the phone bills, travel, transfer fees, or bond premiums that go with supporting someone in prison. The real tax benefits, when they exist, run through dependency status: claiming a qualifying child who is temporarily absent, claiming the Child Tax Credit for a child in a juvenile facility, and deducting qualifying medical expenses paid for a dependent. Work through the dependency tests carefully before assuming any of these apply, because the support test in particular is stricter than it looks.