As you can see from my other thread, I will probably be getting involved with helping my parents to move to some sort of elderly-friendly living situation and since they are living on SS with no savings I will probably end up paying for some of it.
I have been giving them some money to cover their major expenses like taxes and oil. I recently paid for dentures for mom and dental maintenance for dad.
I know that there is some sort of "give tax" that has an annual limit of $15K per person, so I guess I can give them $30K if I have to without getting into any tax trouble.
If I were to buy a house and let them live in it, is there any danger that the lack of rent would be considered some sort of constructive gifting for tax purposes.
If I pay for medical, dental or home care services is that considered giving them a gift that would count against the annual gift tax limit?
I can't include medical or dental payments for their care in my medical expense deduction on my tax return, right?
I seem to remember something about being able to count them as a dependent on my tax return if I am providing more than half of their support. At the time I figured that with their SS I was not giving enough so I did not pursue looking into that.
If I were to agree to pay for some of their first couple of years in an assisted living facility in order to get them in with the plan of eventually switching to Medicaid, is that possible or feasible? That would be much more than the gift tax limit. Would there be some tax implications?
I know some of this might be detailed and I should not rely on random answers. I suppose I should get with an elder law attorney and a tax guy to be sure. I have made tentative plans to talk to a lawyer who attends my church to get some general advice. He does not specialize in these areas, but he seems like a decent man and I feel comfortable getting his advice.
Well, you get the gist of what I am asking. Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.
Joe
I have been giving them some money to cover their major expenses like taxes and oil. I recently paid for dentures for mom and dental maintenance for dad.
I know that there is some sort of "give tax" that has an annual limit of $15K per person, so I guess I can give them $30K if I have to without getting into any tax trouble.
If I were to buy a house and let them live in it, is there any danger that the lack of rent would be considered some sort of constructive gifting for tax purposes.
If I pay for medical, dental or home care services is that considered giving them a gift that would count against the annual gift tax limit?
I can't include medical or dental payments for their care in my medical expense deduction on my tax return, right?
I seem to remember something about being able to count them as a dependent on my tax return if I am providing more than half of their support. At the time I figured that with their SS I was not giving enough so I did not pursue looking into that.
If I were to agree to pay for some of their first couple of years in an assisted living facility in order to get them in with the plan of eventually switching to Medicaid, is that possible or feasible? That would be much more than the gift tax limit. Would there be some tax implications?
I know some of this might be detailed and I should not rely on random answers. I suppose I should get with an elder law attorney and a tax guy to be sure. I have made tentative plans to talk to a lawyer who attends my church to get some general advice. He does not specialize in these areas, but he seems like a decent man and I feel comfortable getting his advice.
Well, you get the gist of what I am asking. Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks.
Joe