I'm about to hire a part-time caregiver from an agency to come help me with dh, she will come 2/month and do light housework and supervise dh while I am out for the day. My accountant sent me a ruling from a court case regarding reimbursement for caregiver expenses and I copied the following small portion to see what you all have done in this situation : The Tax Court held that Baral qualified as a chronically ill individual under section 7702B(c)(2) because she required substantial supervision to protect her from threats to her health and safety due to her severe cognitive impairment. The court also held that the services provided by the caregivers were necessary maintenance and personal care services that she required because of her diminished capacity and that they were provided pursuant to a care plan prescribed by her physician. Therefore, they were qualified long-term-care services
What I'm wondering is: when I ask the doctor for a "care plan" for dh, what exactly should I be asking him for?
mithert, the doctor should write a letter stating that your spouse needs help with his adls and supervision to keep him safe. In my eperience, the agency sent out a nurse to meet dh, assess the home situation and then put together a "care plan" which is basically the areas your hb needs help with. In our case it's supervision due to cognitive impairment, assistance with adls (bathing, dressing, walking, eating). You should also receive a copy of the care plan. I am assuming you're hiring a home health aide, not a companion. I'm not sure if hiring a companion will qualify for a tax deduction.
My wife's psych wrote a script for home health care. I discussed this with my accountant, I hire my help as employees. I've read the IRS rules. While my wife doesn't have problems with ADLs she needs someone there with her to keep her safe. That was key. You may only deduct pay that is used to care for your spouse, so you don't get to deduct for housework done. I have my employee put down on her time sheet how many hours that week she spent doing housework.
One reason for using an accountant for taxes when you are in this situation is that if you are audited and the IRS disagrees about the eligibility of the deduction, you will probably only have to pay owed taxes and interest, as opposed to owed taxes, interest and penalties. Having the accountant and other evidence will show that you made a good faith effort to be as accurate as possible. You could get in trouble if the IRS could prove that you lied to your accountant, but your accountant should guide you in getting him/her the correct information.
What about daycare facilities? My DH is in late stage 6 and has to have lots of help in addition to having to be watched constantly. My tax person counted it under medical expenses.