The last thing you need when a loved one is in need of at home senior care is to be audited by the IRS. OK, it’s not exactly something anyone wants, but the short-term savings of hiring a helper under-the-table will be quickly overwhelmed by the costs of penalties and possibly legal fees if you are caught not paying required taxes.
A home-care agency will work with your budget and identify the best personnel to care for your family member in a home setting. And you will know that you and the care givers who are working in your home are in compliance with federal and local laws. And important, too, you will know that the people who are working on your family’s behalf are contributing to their own social security retirement accounts.
It’s not just celebrities and politicians who get caught up in “nanny-gate” situations through inappropriate hiring processes. Essentially the government likes to keep “off the books” employment to a minimum, so unless you are running a lemonade stand someone needs to be paying taxes. Your legal options are to hire a care giver directly and take responsibility for filing tax reports (which you either have to do yourself or pay your own tax provider to handle) or you can contract with an at home senior care agency and be confident that payroll and taxes are handled in a professional manner.
If you would like to consider the option of professionally managed compassionate at home senior care please contact us.
