My dad gifts my son $19,000 a year for being a companion and minor care, anything over this would be considered taxable. Is it reportable ?
both he and my dad do not report this as income or exceeding gift limit. Is this okay? What about another non family member who occasionally fills in, can this be considered a gift ?
LS because there are other factors that would determine if your dad needed to report the gifting, I would encourage you to speak with his tax pro.
For your son, nope, not reportable unless the gift exceeds what the IRS allows for the year.
I want to commend your dad for showing your son that he values his help. So often elders think they are entitled to free caregiving from everyone in their family. It is refreshing to see it being done the way it should be.
We are well aware of Long term care costs and in fact we pay an agency for 85 hours of oversight a week. This is week day companion and some minor oversight such as helping his grandpa up from a chair etc. Technically this is care. This is also temporary. As Parkinsons is a dynamic declining disease.
I will discuss with my dad's tax accountant about ' nanny tax' which is what someone recommended.
You have to know or at least strongly suspect that money received for services performed reportable and taxable.
If you ask a tax accountant they will tell you about possible tax consequences, however unlikely. If you ask here, we will focus on Medicaid issues. Somewhere, there is a discussion on SS and Medicare for disabled young adults who didn’t make it to ten years of earnings to qualify for coverage. Other places can host debate on everything from contributing to the greater good to divisive politics.
Your son has free will and gets to make his own choices.
That's great that he has ample financial resources. One word of caution if he has other adult children: do they know he is gifting this money as a form of compensation? If not, would they be upset to find this out? Money changes people and relationships overnight. Who is his PoA? Who is his Executor (assuming he has a Will)? I'm hoping he has these things in place.
How old is your Dad? Is he in or close to needing possible facility care? What is his current health and cognitive condition? I'm asking because as others have pointed out, Medicaid (a very important resource later in one's elder care trajectory) will certainly be denied if these gifts are happening within their 5-year look-back window on the financial application. He should probably discuss things with his financial planner or an actual Medicaid Planner for his home state. He (and your family) will be in serious dire straits if he runs out of money but then needs LTC in the future. Many people don't think this far down the road but they need to read some of the many posts by desperate family members trying to find care cost solutions for their parent.
"In 2025, you're allowed to give someone up to $19,000 per year without having to report it to the IRS. If you're married, you and your spouse can give up to $38,000 to the same person without worrying about gift taxes.Jan 2, 2025"
It was 18,000 in 2024. Your problem does not seem the IRS, which allows gifting but Medicaid doesn't. They will question this large sum of money and apply a penalty.
Your Dad can gift 19,000 to any individual he would like on the face of the earth without reporting it. Do know that banks report anything over 10,000 and I hear that number is or will be lowered to their having to report any checks to individuals over 2,000 if you can imagine. In any case, there are no taxes involved. Now if Dad goes through all his money the fact he was GIFTING will count against him in application to Medicaid. So this is a no-no that is happening here. It works for the family member, but not for Dad if he has to have a 5 year lookback to apply for government assistance of Medicaid. Dad should be paying this money for care, and son listing it as income, and records should be kept in my own humble opinion. That said, our opinions are from lay people. This should be discussed with an attorney on Dad's behalf.
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For your son, nope, not reportable unless the gift exceeds what the IRS allows for the year.
I want to commend your dad for showing your son that he values his help. So often elders think they are entitled to free caregiving from everyone in their family. It is refreshing to see it being done the way it should be.
I will discuss with my dad's tax accountant about ' nanny tax' which is what someone recommended.
LSG333
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If you ask a tax accountant they will tell you about possible tax consequences, however unlikely. If you ask here, we will focus on Medicaid issues. Somewhere, there is a discussion on SS and Medicare for disabled young adults who didn’t make it to ten years of earnings to qualify for coverage. Other places can host debate on everything from contributing to the greater good to divisive politics.
Your son has free will and gets to make his own choices.
It was 18,000 in 2024. Your problem does not seem the IRS, which allows gifting but Medicaid doesn't. They will question this large sum of money and apply a penalty.
Dad should be paying this money for care, and son listing it as income, and records should be kept in my own humble opinion.
That said, our opinions are from lay people. This should be discussed with an attorney on Dad's behalf.