AARP Makes Case for Family Caregiver Tax Credit to the Joint Committee on Revenue

The move to enact a $1500 Family caregiver tax credit in Massachusetts went before another hearing Tuesday June 6. This time, it was the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue.  AARP Massachusetts State Director Mike Festa testified in favor of the bill. AARP volunteers Nancy Stehfest and Yvonne Powell, who are both family caregivers, testified as well.

House Bill 2932 would provide family caregivers with an income tax credit to cover expenses incurred by a taxpayer for the care and support of a qualifying family member. The refundable $1500 tax credit would help address the financial challenges of caregiving and allow more unpaid family caregivers to keep their family members at home or in the community.

“As a state we should support family caregivers as they take on the costs and responsibilities associated with caregiving.” Said Mike Festa, State Director, AARP Massachusetts.  “A family caregiver tax credit is one way to help address these financial burdens and ensure that caregivers can keep their loved ones living in their homes and communities.” To read Mike’s testimony, Click Here

Nearly eight in 10 caregivers report having routine out-of-pocket expenses related to looking after their loved ones.  The typical annual total is $7,242.

On average, family caregivers are spending 26% of their income on caregiving activities and more if they were caring long distance, or for someone with cognitive impairment, according to results of the national study.

This spending by family caregivers saves taxpayer dollars by helping to delay or prevent more costly nursing home care and helping to prevent unnecessary hospital readmissions.

AARP Massachusetts State President Sandra Harris submitted testimony to the committee as well. She wrote about helping care of her 95 year old mother who lives outside of Massachusetts

Sandra wrote "My Mom is 95 and is living with dementia. This testimony, nor a hundred more, cannot adequately convey the emotional, physical, and financial burdens my siblings and I are experiencing as we care for our mother at home."

You can read Sandra's testimony here.

If you'd like to help AARP with this effort, send us an email ma@aarp.org.

To read more on AARP’s effort to make a refundable Family Caregiver Tax Credit a reality Click Here.