• Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Policy
  • Guest Post
  • Archive

One Cent At A Time

A Personal finance blog to get rich

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • Beautiful Life
  • Becoming Rich
  • Beginners Guide
  • Extra Income
  • Productivity
  • Saving Money

The Good Care giving and the Tax Breaks Thereof

December 18, 2013 Leave a Comment

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email

Readers of this blog have different occupation. When certain people contacted me to write about caregivers, I thought about it for a while and decided to go for it. Caregiving is something we all do but, we never spend the time to think about the other advantages like tax deductions. This post is all about how to be a better caregiver and then benefiting from it as well, apart from helping people in need, the primary objective of caregiving.

In my life I have seen a good amount of caregivers, there is one helping my parents back home. I have seen caregivers who go above and beyond to perform their duty. This is a tough and demanding task to be a good caregiver. If you aspire to be one, make sure not to commit these mistakes and follow the good practices.

Things to avoid as caregiver

When someone in your family falls sick, persons nearby turn into caregiver, often they get compensation. Do not just look for the compensation alone rather become a good helper. When the primary caregiver has to take a break and you are the one to step in, understand the previous one’s practices well.

Pay close attention to details like dietary restriction, exercise regimen. Do not let off or relax the norms and habits of the receiver.

For example, if your sister who was taking care of your mom takes a break and you step in to give care, do not let your mother deviate from earlier food and diet restrictions. Do not offer her food that is not good for her. This may not cause harm in short-term but may change her anticipation and expectation in the longer term. And, when your sister comes back in, she may have hard time re-convincing your mother follow the previous restrictions and discipline. This will do her more harm than good. You sister will end up working harder.

The Do’s of a good caregiver

  1. Enjoy the role helping others should be a fun rather than burden
  2. Enjoy conversation with the person you are caring for, understand the person, helping him/her will be a lot easier.
  3. When faced with unkind or rude behavior, just ignore and stick to your principles.
  4. Take care of yourself first, if you are not healthy and fit how can you give proper and needed care?
  5. Have a backup plan, the days you are unwell you should have someone to back you up. This is absolutely needed when you are giving care for someone in very critical condition.
  6. Be confident, mistakes happen, move on from failures, as long as your intention was good.
  7. Understand that the person you are caring for can have a change in mood, change in behavior over time. Do the adjustment in your expectation and be committed to help.

More in this NYT article.

Caregiver tax breaks

According to AARP reports, around 45 million Americans provide for the elderly care and spend nearly $5,500 per year on the care. Giving care is good news, another good news is the tax breaks you are entitled to provide care.

Many of your expenses towards caregiving qualify as eligible tax deductions. For example, if the person receiving care lives with you can claim deductions on his/her share of the mortgage, utilities and other housing-related expenses towards the care.

Some areas where you can claim some of the expenses you incurred as a caregiver to your elderly relatives.

Dependent Deduction

If your dependent parent’s gross income after Social Security is less than $3,700 a year, and you paid for more than half of your parent’s, you may claim your parent as a dependent. If your parent qualifies as a dependent per IRS, your taxable income will be reduced by $3,700.

Caregiving Expenses

If you can’t claim parents as dependent, you still can claim some of the expenses you had incurred. If you had paid someone else to look after the elderly when you couldn’t you can ask for a credit for up to 35 percent of what you paid to a maximum of $3,000. That is you can claim credit for up to $1,050 (Dependent Care Credit).

Medical costs

Per IRS, you can claim deductions for medical expenses not covered by your health insurance that exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income. the expenses do include medical costs for providing care.

Hope you enjoyed the post. if you have any experience in care giving do share your opinions and advise here.

P.S. I am not a tax expert. Do consult with tax professionals before filing your tax return and claiming caregiving deductions, this article is written purely for entertainment purpose only.

LIKE THIS POST?
Thank you for subscribing.
Something went wrong.
I agree to have my personal information transfered to MailChimp ( more information )
Join our community of 8000+ subscribers to increase your net worth and build wealth
We hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
The tool that changed the way I manage my personal finance - Personal Capital, The Best Free Personal Finance Tool

Want to start a WordPress blog now? The onecentatatime.com blog is hosted by Siteground Web Hosting. For only $3.95 a month, Siteground can help you set up and host your website/blog quickly and easily.

About the Blogger Hi I am SB, a personal finance enthusiast with a career in software development. I am an immigrant to the USA since 2005, after being born and brought up in India. This 40 something technocrat lives and breathes personal finance whenever he gets time from the day job, job as a husband and a dad

Some links on this page may be affiliate links, if you make a purchase following the links, I may earn a commission. Read affiliate disclosure here
« Taking Care of Your Potted Plants in Winter
The Importance of Giving this Holiday »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.



Create your own blog in 20 minutes and $20

Personal Capital, a free tool to change your financial health today

I use and suggest Upstart, for your personal loan need

CreditKarma, a free tool to check your credit scorey

I use Coinbase, for my crypto investments

101 Cents at a Time

101 Ways to Earn Extra Money on the Side
201 Frugal and Perfect Birthday Gifts
101 Ways to Save Money Everyday
101 Ways to be Better and Successful at Work
101 Ways to Save Environment and Energy
101 Frugal and Romantic Anniversary Ideas
101 Low-Cost Men's Fashion Ideas
101 Personal Finance Tips
101 Ways to Reuse Household Stuff
101 Things to Do, When Nothing to Do
101 College Graduation Gift Ideas
100 Tips for Ecommerce Startup
101 Ways to Enjoy Indoor During Winter
101 Ways to Beat Procrastination

Popular Posts

Quick Cash - How to make $100 legally, in a day
Living well on less than $15,000 a Year
Top survey sites for side income
What to do when auto repair goes wrong
Where should I invest my money now?
20 Ways to be productive and happy at work
51 Ways to get out of debt
Be a better person in 15 days, 15 ways
Income ideas for retirees and senior citizens
51 side jobs for college students
Urgently need a large amount of money?
Should I buy or should I rent?
Best Personal loan providers
25 Ways to save environment
25 DIY car repairs to save money
How to decorate office cubicle
How to show your wife you care
50 Financial Rules for Success
51 Frugal weekend family activity ideas
Become Rich By Saving 1 Hour Of Daily Wage
How much do I need to save for retirement?
How to negotiate your salary

Follow us on FaceBook

About Author

SB

Blogger by choice and IT manager by profession. Finance is my passion and gardening is my greatest satisfaction. Born in India, settled in US, Husband and a father. I created this blog in 2011 with a vision to help others. Thanks for your patronage. More info on my "about" page.

View all posts


Subscribe

Join our community of 5000+ subscribers to increase net worth and build wealth

Advertisements

Personal Stories

How I got a new HP computer replaced
Was COVID circulating in USA in fall of 2019?
How my credit score went up 800+
Why I didn’t invest in Bitcoins
How I controlled impulses to buy things
Why this blog is named One Cent at a Time

Subscribe via Email

Site Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in this web site are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Read full Affiliate disclosure


One Cent at a Time is published by SB. The opinions expressed herein by him are his own and not those of his employer or anyone else. All content on One Cent at a Time is for entertainment purposes only. By reading this blog, you agree that SB and/or One Cent at a Time is not responsible for any actions taken after reading this blog. For the full disclaimer, click here .

Major Media Mention

One Cent at a Time Media Appearances

Copyright © 2023 One Cent At A Time · Designed by Nuts and Bolts Media