Caregivers Helping Relatives

A family Caregiver is defined as an unpaid relative that helps care for an elderly parent or relative as compared to a Professional Caregiver such as a Nurse's Aide that is paid to provide services.

A family Caregiver may qualify for various tax deductions and credits provide they meet certain criteria. You can take a parent or qualified relative as a dependent deduction on your tax return if certain tests are met including income and support. Secondly, a family caregiver may also be able to claim medical expenses they paid on behalf of their parent or relative as an itemized deduction on Schedule A of their tax return.

A Caregiver that can claim a parent or relative as a dependent may also be eligible for the Child & Dependent Care Credit .

Family Caregivers must make sure that the parent or relative they are claiming as a dependent deduction has not claimed themselves as a dependent on their own tax return or that no one else has claimed them. You cannot take a dependency deduction for anyone who has claimed themselves on their own tax return. Caregiver s should obtain a copy of the parent or relative’s tax return before filing their return .

In the case where there are siblings as shared caregivers of one elderly parent, , only one sibling can take the exemption for the parent. An agreement needs to be reached yearly as to which sibling will take the exemption on their return. The sibling taking the exemption will need to file Form 2120, Multiple Support Declaration, and have all of the other siblings sign the form claiming that they will not take the exemption on their own return.