I drive 200 miles a month to take care of my mother. Can I charge her for mileage at the IRS rate?

From your profile

I am caring for my mother Jane, who is 93 years old, living in independent living with age-related decline, alzheimer's / dementia, arthritis, heart disease and osteoporosis.

How is your poor mother getting by living alone at 93 with dementia, and 1 hour a day of care????? It's time to quit thinking of getting paid to drive to help her out on weekends and get her suitable 24/7 care right away!

Good grief.

With all your mother has going on with her health(per your profile)she certainly SHOULDN'T be living by herself, with little to no care.
And the fact that you apparently only go twice a month to "care" for her, and now want to get paid for your gas for only a 100 mile round trip twice a month, sounds to me a bit petty.
You have much BIGGER fish to fry than getting reimbursed for gas. How about getting your mother place in the appropriate facility in the city where you live where you can just drive across town to visit and she will receive the 24/7 care that she really requires and deserves at this time?
That seems like the more appropriate next step, don't you think?

Think Mom needs to be in an Assited Living. If she can't afford that, a nice Long-term care facility that takes Medicaid.

Jane, it reads as though your mother’s Independent Living is 50 miles away, and you go there and back twice a month. So 200 miles a month. To be honest, if M is 93, has ‘age-related decline, dementia, arthritis, heart disease and osteoporosis’, and gets only 30 hours a month of care (paid by her insurance), your fuel costs seem the least of the worries.

How is M coping in Independent Living with all these problems?

No not really. If you are a POA you can make charges according to what your attorney written POA stipulates. Otherwise you cannot charge her anything that she herself doesn't agree to pay, and isn't willing to pay you. If she does want to pay you and can afford to do so then you should attend an attorney together to write up a contract. At that point you would be responsible for keeping careful records of these payments so they don't come across as gifting which could make her ineligible for help with her care when/if needed in future.

I would keep all gas receipts and at the end of each month add up the miles and charge the 2024 reimbursement rate. Staple to a dated note that says it's for caregiving activity and include a copy of how it was reimbursed (check, cash). Have your Mom sign it and keep it on file.