Caring for a loved one is not only difficult and sometimes emotionally draining, it can be expensive. The loss of income often suffered by the requirements of full-time caregiving can be crippling if you don’t have a way to offset that difficulty. Fortunately, there is an option to take a tax deduction for your caregiving duties, if you meet certain criteria required by the federal government. What this amounts to is the idea that you are going to claim your ailing relative as a dependent, enabling you to draw down tax benefits from the relationship.
- You must as caregiver be responsible for more than half of your loved one’s financial support
- Your dependent, if a relative, may live with you or live at a nursing or assisted living facility.
- Your dependent, if not related, must live with you in home, for at least one year.
- Your dependent must be a U.S., Canadian, or Mexican citizen.
- Your dependent cannot file a joint tax return in that fiscal year.
- The dependent’s income must equal less than $3,800 gross, not including SSI or tax-exempt income, or reverse mortgage income.
Claiming your ailing relative as a dependent in this way can be a boon in helping to offset the costs of being a full-time caregiver. The tax deductions can help to recover some of the salary you might lose from being unable to work full-time.
