Can Mom get a tax deduction for payment to Daughter for home care?

Maybe--maybe not. This is one situation where a quick trip to an attorney (tax specialist) would not go amiss.

Is she paying you legally by withholding taxes, social security, etc? Do you have a care contract with mom? Best visit with an elder law attorney.

Agingcare.com/articles/personal-care-agreements-compensate-family-caregivers-181562.htm

Is she withholding taxes and social secccurity from your checks? You need to consult a CPA to get professional information and assistance.

Check with a certified public accountant (CPA) or a tax preparer with CPA credentials.

Your profile says your mother is 100 years old. Is her pension and any other interest income enough to warrant her filing? If not, then a tax deduction won't be of any benefit to her. Maybe a simple question for an accountant to easily answer since we don't know anything about her total financial situation.

It is unlikely but not impossible that she would get any benefit from the deduction.

It depends:

Do her expenses qualify?
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p502#en_US_2021_publink1000178975
Note the requirements for medical certification and plan of care.

Does she already itemize deductions or does she use the standard deduction? If all of her medical expenses exceed 7.5% of her income she can deduct the excess with her other itemized deductions, including her mortgage interest, charitable donations, and state taxes. If the standard deduction is better than itemizing, there is no benefit.

Also check to make all paperwork is in order.

Is she conforming with payroll tax requirements? When one submits the deduction claim, the IRS requires proof so that they can verify that appropriate SS, Medicare, etc. are collected.

Are you claiming the income on your taxes? The IRS will follow the money to make sure that you are also paying required taxes. Reimbursements for expenses (rent, groceries, utilities, etc.) may be treated differently than compensation for services.

You can consult an appropriate professional for details. If Medicaid is a possibility in the future, make sure that you are well informed about what a personal care contract is.

bubbaclemson123: As you state further down this thread that your mother files her federal income tax using the STANDARD deduction, in order to claim (if even possible) health care costs, she would have to file using the ITEMIZED deduction. It's best to pose your question to a certified public accountant as a lot of criteria have to be met/answered for your mother regarding your question.

Before I mentioned taxing income may depend on if your being paid as a caregiver or its rent. Just read that even a child caregiver being paid to care for a parent needs to pay taxes on that money. Does not have to pay Medicare and SS taxes.

If you count the money as rent it is not taxable

"An amount of money that your parents give you to offset their expenses isn't taxable to you. This amount is treated as support provided by your parents in determining whether your parents are your dependents."

So better to have it as rent then caring for a parent.

Sone tax deductions are allowed in facilities that provide AL, MC, or NC, calculated between 30 and 45%. The deductions are based on the type of facility and the medical portion of care. I assume you are not a licensed caregiver operating under a doctor. Your care would be considered custodial care which does not qualify.

She could as long as she reported those monies as earnings for you. She paid you and you had earnings for the year. You would need to report the earnings, probably as contract labor. In the end, she would get a deduction and you'd be paying tax.

If you aren't reporting the income on your own taxes, it's considered being paid 'under the table' to avoid taxes. If you do report it and pay taxes on it, then by all means give her the deduction.