in home health helper

[cberistain]

My adult daughter has a spinal cord injury and will be released soon from the hospital/rehab center. She still needs 24/7 care .. If I pay for this care ( expensive), do I have to file a form 709 for gift taxes?

Also, If I purchase a wheel chair accessible van for her, do I need to file a form 709?

[Opus 17]

Can you claim your child as a dependent?  Then you are just paying medical expenses for dependents, it's not a gift and it would be a tax deductible medical expense on your tax return (subject to the usual rules).  You could claim your child as a dependent if she is any age, as long as 

1. she is unmarried, or she is married but she files her tax return as "married filing separately".

2. she does not have her own dependents to claim.

3. her gross taxable income is less than $5050 for 2025.

4. you provide more than half her total financial support.

If she is not your dependent, then you would have to file a gift tax return if your gifts to her are more than $19,000 for 2025.  However, you can stretch the limits if you or she are married.  For example, if you are married, then you and your spouse can each give her $19,000 before triggering the form.  And if she is married, then you and your spouse could give a total of $76,000 (4 individual gifts of $19,000 in each pairwise combination).

[NCPERSON1]

@cberistain since she is your child and as long as your are paying at least 50% of her support, whether or not she meets the other tests to be your dependent, you are permitted to take a medical deduction for the medical expenses she incurred and you paid. 

it would not be a gift under this circumstance. 

[cberistain]

she is. not  my dependent.  she is retired and living about 90 miles from us

[Opus 17]

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@cberistain wrote:

she is. not  my dependent.  she is retired and living about 90 miles from us

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She can still be your tax dependent if you meet the tests I mentioned above.  She can be any age, and does not have to live with you.  You must pay more than 50% of her total living expenses (including health care, rent and everything else); and she must have less than $5050 of taxable income.  Social Security (disability) is usually not taxable, if that is her only income.  But if she has a pension, then she might have more taxable income.  And social security counts as "support" that she provides to herself, and you would have to provide more than half her total support, when counting all her sources of financial support. 

If she is not your tax dependent, the costs would be gifts reported on a 709.