Caregiver credit or deduction

It depends.  Does your daughters mother live with her? Do they both live with you or do they live separate from you?  

If so, it is possible that she can claim her as a dependent on her return.  If she does, and if she has total itemized expenses that are greater than her Standard deduction, she could claim these expenses as part of her itemized expenses.  For her mother to qualify as her dependent the following would have to apply:

• Her mother could not have income of more than $5,050 in 2024.  Social security does not count
• Her mother could not file a joint return for the year

She may also be able to file as Head of Household, if she is claiming her mother.  This would increase her standard deduction from $14,600 (if she is single) to $21,900.

To file as Head of Household, you  must meet the following:

• Be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year or have lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year
• Paid more than half the cost of upkeep of the home where the dependent lived (if it is a parent or child they do not have to live with you)

Itemized expenses include mortgage interest, gambling losses up to winnings,  charitable contributions, state and local taxes up to $10,000, medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your AGI and casualty and losses in excess of 10% of you AGI with the first $100 not counting towards the loss.  Health insurance and all medical expenses are only deductible for the amount that is over 7.5% of your AGI.  This means if her AGI is $50,000, then the amount that is over $3,750 is deductible.  

Then your total itemized expenses would need to be greater than your standard deduction below in order to benefit from your expenses. 

The 2024 Standard Deductions are as follows:

• Married Filing Joint (MFJ)              $29,200
• Married Filing Separate (MFS)      $14,600
• Head of Household (HOH)             $21,900 
• Single                                                 $14,600                                

If she can claim her, she may also be able to claim the $500 Other Dependent Credit

The best thing to do is walk through all the questions in the personal info section which will tell you if her mother qualifies as a dependent and then TurboTax will guide you through the deductions and credits that are available. 

Standard versus Itemized Deduction

Taxes for Caregivers