Can I claim the money I sent to help provide adult day care for my mother with Alzheimers? I am not her primary care giver.

[mothermason]

My mom lives 24/7out of state. The rest of the siblings, myself included, each paid for a week of adult day care (5 days/week for 6 hrs.) so my sister could get a little break. Each sibling paid for 1 week each month.

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

No.  Sorry.  That is a gift to your mom (or to your sister).  It is not deductible.

[lindal92]

I hired a qualified person to work 5 days a week for 6 hours to provide care for me and my wife. Is the cost tax deductible. I have congestive heart failure and am under medical and hospital care all year. My wife is using a walker and is limited to only very small care help. Basically the care giver and I do the house chores. 

[MaryM428]

The situation that you describe is not tax deductible.  If you hired a person for to provide medical assistance and a doctor has certified that the assistance is needed, then you would only be able to deduct the part of their compensation that was for medical reasons.  If they did household chores, that would not be deductible.

• Assisted living expenses in a facility are deductible when a doctor has certified that a patient cannot care for themselves. They are unable to perform two or more activities of daily living such as eating, toileting, transferring, bath, dressing, or continence. 
   
• Or they require supervision due to a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's disease or another form of dementia). 

@lindal92