How do taxes work if I become a caregiver for my grandparents?

you should be paid with taxes and social security. W-2 issued. They can either have payroll service or their CPA handle. If they gift you money it would make them ineligible for Medicaid if they ever need it for long term care. And $2000 is not enough if you are going to a live in caregiver.

How did you become the caregiver for your grandparents? Why are you the family member that hasn't been able to work in 6 months?

Why did Grandpa end up in a NH? Was his care too much for you when he was at home? And now Grandma wants to bring him back home, and is dangling the carrot of pay in front of you?

It would be far better for you to work elsewhere and get a real job, salary, and benefits.

Run like the wind in the other direction…..

Need a written contract to avoid Medicaid penalties. See an eldercare and tax attorney.

That is poverty level at the end of the year. If you need to be there 24/7 then it is slavery. This is a horrible plan. How do you expect to save for your retirement or even health insurance?

First of all, don't do it. One person cannot do what three shifts of nurses and aides can do. Second, grandma doesn't know how to do payroll and withholding taxes or how to issue a W-2. That will get very messy. Medicaid does not allow live-in relatives as paid caregivers.

I would reconsider caring for grandpa. If he is in a NH he is 24/7 care with at least 3 shifts of people caring for him.

Grandma will be your employer. She needs to make the payroll deductions making sure payments are sent to the correct agency. This means matching SS that does not come out of your pay. You may want to see what a CPA will charge to do this for you. Then he can do a W2 for you.

I would think long and hard about doing this. Caregiving is 24/7. No life of your own. What grandma wants may not be best for grandpa. Talk to the doctor and nurses who care for him.

Kbelreivins, your grandfather is in a nursing home for a reason, it now takes a village to care for him. If grandfather comes home, that village goes down to one person.

How many hours would you be caring for your grandfather 9am to 5pm, or more likely 7am to 7pm [depending the start of his day]. Five days a week or 7 days? You would need to check on State laws regarding the number of hours a caregiver can work each week.

Best to draw up an Employment Agreement that states what days you work, what hours, what days you have off, your duties, your hourly rate. This Agreement would be very valuable if your Grandfather needs to go back in a nursing home and needs to use Medicaid [which is different from Medicare] to help pay for his care. That way it would show that your grandparents weren't "gifting" you that $2k per month.

JoAnn, just to clarify, independent contractors pay the entire amount for social security and medicare, then they get to do a dollar for dollar deduction for half. That compensates for them having to pay all of it.

There are all kinds of exclusions for paid family caregivers, however, it is important that they set this up with a tax professional and do ALL the filings, this proves it wasn't gifting if Medicaid is ever needed.

For some more context:

I understand it’s not a lot of money. I’m doing what I can do to help while still being able to pay some of my bills. I just want my grandfather to be taken care of as it’s mostly him that will need the help. I will not be living with them. He likes to sleep in and wake up about 10:30am every day and goes to bed around 7pm every day without fail. It’ll be about 10a-7p. I have my own place with my own family.