My mother, suffering from dementia, is now paying for 24x7 home health care, provided by 4 different caregivers. All are independent contractors, not working for an agency, and we make payments to their personal accounts weekly. If we want to deduct the expense of paying for these home health workers on my mother's federal taxes, do I need to treat them as employees and contribute to medicare, social security, and FUTA? IRS Publication 926 isn't entirely clear on this: "If you have a household employee, you may need to withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes, pay FUTA tax, or both." (Italics are mine.)
