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My father is 79 and is now in a nursing home on medicaid. Obviously he can’t do his income taxes. I’m his POA but I’m assuming I’m not responsible to report them. Do I need to tell the Social Services rep anything when it is time his medicaid renewal rolls around? Any advice? Thank you

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Even if a person is on Medicaid they still might need to file income taxes, or their POA on their behalf. For example, if a person is withdrawing money from an IRA, that is reported to the IRS and sometimes taxes are withheld. In our state, there are some nice benefits for elders and low income folks (refundable tax credits) but they need to file a state return to get this. A lot of people were advised that if they only have social security or very low income they no longer need to file taxes. That may be true on the federal level, but as it turned out, these folks have been losing out on state benefits. When Covid relief checks were being sent, people who hadn't filed federal taxes had a very hard time getting this. Luckily for seniors, everyone getting social security benefits did get the Covid relief $$. I'm an AARP tax prep volunteer and we often do taxes for folks who have a POA -- we just need to see the POA document.
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SurfGirl Jun 2023
Well he does get a small monthly pension that goes directly to the nursing home along with his social security. So maybe i do need to continue doing his taxes. It takes all of 10 minutes to do. Hmmm, not sure what to do.
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If his income is less than $25,000 he doesn't need to file. If his income is more than that, although it goes to the NH, I don't know whether income taxes need to be filed or not when one is on LTC Medicaid. Hopefully someone else here can chime in. I'm thinking Igloo may know.
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I would expect the POA to be responsible for filing income tax returns. The POA document will list your areas of authority.

Check the federal and state requirements for filing, or have a tax preparer do it for you. I doubt that any taxes are due since not all SS is taxable, and while on Medicaid almost all income goes towards LTC and other medical expenses, which are deductible.
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I did go to this link and took the survey to see if I need to file taxes for my Dad and turns out I need to because of his pension. Here’s the link if anyone else is unsure on what to do. https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return
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My MIL is on Medicaid getting only SS (which goes to her facility). We've never filed for her because she doesn't make above the threshold.
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Social Worker can help you check, but it is unlikely dad now has an income large enough to have any need of reporting taxes. Someone here will know exactly; mstrbill is usually up on this stuff and says 25,000 is the the cutoff which, if you make less than you have no need to file.

Frebrowser is correct that the POA files taxes now, gets them prepared and sent in.

Any CPA and likely the IRS site can inform you.
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SS is not taxable. But hids pension would be if he goes over the income level allowed. My Mom made 21k a year with SS. 2400 with the small pension she received. That 2400 was way under the income level. A CPA tax preparer should be able to help.

And yes, as a POS, you are responsible for making sure taxes are paid.
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