To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to establish a credit for adult child caregivers.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The bill creates a multigenerational home caregiver income-tax credit beginning with taxable years after 2026. An eligible caregiver may claim $2,000 for each qualifying relative, with no more than two relatives counted in a year. The credit phases down by 1 percent of adjusted gross income above $75,000 for a single filer or $150,000 for a joint return.
The caregiver must be a United States citizen who is at least 18, or at least 16 and legally emancipated. The caregiver must share a principal residence with the relative for at least six months and personally provide at least 10 hours of required assistance per week. If the relative dies during the taxable year, a three-month co-residence rule replaces the six-month rule. A licensed health-care provider must attest that the relative satisfies the functional and duration tests.
A qualifying relative must be at least 55, have a specified family or in-law relationship, need substantial help with at least one activity of daily living and three instrumental activities of daily living, require at least 10 hours of assistance weekly, and have a condition lasting at least 180 days or the remainder of life. Instrumental activities include meals, finances, shopping, household chores, communication, and community travel.
Only one taxpayer may claim a relative; when multiple taxpayers otherwise qualify, the relative is assigned to the filer with the highest adjusted gross income. Married taxpayers must file jointly. Any child and dependent-care credit for the same relative reduces this credit.
Who Benefits and How
Qualifying family caregivers receive up to $2,000 per relative to offset unpaid caregiving costs. Caregivers supporting two qualifying relatives may claim two credit amounts before income and coordination limits. Legally emancipated 16- and 17-year-old caregivers can qualify. Caregivers whose relative dies during the year receive a shorter residence test. Older impaired relatives gain support for remaining in a multigenerational home.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Caregivers must document citizenship, age, relationship, shared residence, weekly assistance, and joint-return status and obtain a clinician's attestation. Higher-income filers receive a reduced credit, while married separate filers, noncitizen caregivers, and additional caregivers for an already claimed relative are excluded. Licensed health-care providers must assess and attest to functional limitations. The IRS must issue guidance, coordinate definitions with HHS, resolve competing claims, and administer credit offsets. Federal income-tax accounts bear the revenue cost.
Key Provisions
- Creates a $2,000 caregiver credit for each of up to two qualifying relatives.
- Requires at least 10 hours of caregiver assistance per week.
- Requires six months of shared residence, reduced to three months after a qualifying death.
- Defines functional impairment using daily-living activities and a 180-day duration test.
- Requires a licensed health-care provider attestation.
- Phases down the credit above specified adjusted-gross-income thresholds.
- Restricts each relative to one claimant and requires joint filing for married taxpayers.
- Reduces the credit by any child and dependent-care credit for the same relative.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a nonrefundable income-tax credit of up to $2,000 per qualifying relative, capped at two relatives, for United States citizen family caregivers who share a home with an impaired relative age 55 or older and provide at least 10 hours of weekly assistance.
Key Policy Areas
Family Caregiving, Individual Tax Credits, Aging in Place, Activities of Daily Living, Multigenerational Households
Primary Purpose
Creates a nonrefundable income-tax credit of up to $2,000 per qualifying relative, capped at two relatives, for United States citizen family caregivers who share a home with an impaired relative age 55 or older and provide at least 10 hours of weekly assistance.
Policy Domains
Section 2 multigenerational caregiver credit
Identified Gains
- Citizen family caregivers sharing a home
- Legally emancipated teenage caregivers
- Caregivers supporting two impaired relatives
- Caregivers of relatives dying during the year
- Older relatives needing daily-living assistance
- Multigenerational households providing unpaid care
Identified Costs
- Caregivers documenting weekly assistance
- Licensed clinicians providing attestations
- Higher-income family caregivers
- Married caregivers filing separate returns
- Noncitizen family caregivers
- IRS caregiver-credit administrators
- HHS daily-living guidance staff
- Federal individual-income-tax accounts
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Mrs. Dingell (for herself and Mrs. Kiggans of Virginia) introduced …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Caregivers documenting weekly assistance, Caregivers of relatives dying during the year, Caregivers supporting two impaired relatives
Positive-direction: Caregivers of relatives dying during the year, Caregivers supporting two impaired relatives, Citizen family caregivers sharing a home, Legally emancipated teenage caregivers
Negative-direction: Higher-income family caregivers, Married caregivers filing separate returns, Noncitizen family caregivers
Federal individual-income-tax accounts, IRS caregiver-credit administrators
Older relatives needing daily-living assistance
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "attestor"
- → Licensed health-care provider
- "claimant"
- → Eligible United States citizen family caregiver
- "relative"
- → Qualifying impaired relative age 55 or older
- "coordinator"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "administrator"
- → Secretary of the Treasury
Note: {'scope_ids': ['multigenerational_caregiver_credit'], 'description': 'The credit supports up to two relatives but permits only one taxpayer to claim each relative and assigns competing claims to the otherwise eligible filer with the highest adjusted gross income.'}
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A citizen age 18 or older, or a legally emancipated citizen age 16 or older, who shares a home with a qualifying relative, provides at least 10 hours of weekly assistance, and files a clinician attestation.
A specified relative or parent-in-law age 55 or older who requires substantial assistance with at least one daily-living activity and three instrumental activities for at least 180 days or life.
Meal preparation, financial management, essential shopping, household chores, communications, and travel or participation in the community.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
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