Can I claim money that I paid in cash for someone to care for my mom while I was at work

[Opus 17]

Your mother would have to be your tax dependent, and disabled (unable to care for herself).  She can be your tax dependent if you pay more than half her living expenses and her taxable income is less than $4400.  Remember that social security is not taxable, but it does count as support she provides for herself.

[Mike9241]

if shes eligible you need that person's name, address, and either their EIN or SSN. without their tax ID number, you can claim nothing even if you qualify.

[rjs]

You can claim the dependent care credit if your mother would be your dependent except that her income was $4,400 or more, or she files a joint return with her spouse, or you could be claimed as a dependent by someone else. You do not have to actually claim your mother as a dependent, but she has to meet the requirements to be your dependent, except for the three factors that I just listed.

There are other requirements as well. Your mother must have lived with you for more than half the year. You must have earned income from working, either on a W-2 or net self-employment income. If you are filing a joint return your spouse must also have earned income. In most cases you cannot claim the credit if you are filing as married filing separately. And, as Mike9241 said, you must have the name, address, and Social Security number (or ITIN or EIN) of the person you paid. You have to put that information on your tax return, so the person who cared for your mother will have to report the income on his or her tax return.

The rules for the credit for child and dependent care expenses are very complicated. There are exceptions to most of the rules that have been posted here, by me and others. You can try entering the expenses in TurboTax and let TurboTax guide you through it, or you might want to look at IRS Publication 503 for all the details.