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I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
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V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
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Check into a payroll company. They process all the payroll and ensure that all the taxes and insurances are in place. You pay a fee for this service but it is usually cheaper than an agency or trouble because someone got injured. Some even offer insurance benefits for your employee. They may be called labor leasing companies or payroll agencies. Shop around to ensure a good fit for your needs.
You need to explain to the caregivers that mom will eventually need Medicaid and she can not qualify if their pay is not done legally. You need to protect mom. If they don't understand, are they really good caregivers?
Besides, it is illegal to earn money under the table and it puts you and mom at risk of a lawsuit in the event of an accident or injury. I guarantee that they will not say it's okay if the get hurt on the job, remember you are dealing with people that are potentially/probably committing tax evasion by being paid cash, speaks to their character.
Oh yes, the IRS will make you pay ALL the taxes that should have been withheld and paid, not a pleasurable payment to make.
Do the caregivers fill out time sheets? If not, start. Also, if you are letting the workers 1099 THEMSELVES, you have no idea if they are actually even doing that. You need your OWN paper trail for the IRS. That paper trail plus timesheets is part of your proof of caregiving. Nursing home told us that even checks marked “for caregiving” are NOT acceptable to Medicaid. Thank goodness we already had everything else in place!
They shouldn’t be 1099 themselves because they are actual employees. They can’t legally be contractors which is what they would be in they are filing 1099s.
Well, the other posters on here have good advice re taxes, IRS, etc. But if you must pay cash, could you demand a signed receipt?Frankly, I'm not in favor of trying end runs around the IRS. Time passes, you think everything is OK sort of, then the ceiling falls on you. A worker may claim they are "contract labor" but the critical thing is whether the IRS believes they are contract labor. A very different thing.
Be careful, very careful. Our CPA strongly advised us NOT to pay either cash or a personal check to a private pay caregiver even if they assure you that they will take care of taxes. Like it or not, the IRS has very specific rules as to what constitutes a contract worker versus an employee. I spoke to numerous private pay caregivers that I contacted through one of the largest on-line caregiving referral companies and everyone of them told me they accepted cash or personal checks and they would "take care of the taxes" because they were private contractors. Not true! You will become their employer and unless you are willing to go head to head with the IRS, don't do it. I even found one lovely and extremely well-qualified caregiver who wanted to negotiate that I pay her 50% in cash and that she would accept the other 50% as an employee with taxes withheld. Quite frankly, it ticked me off since my husband and I haven't gotten away with not paying our taxes! Also as difficult as my mom is, the agency just keeps replacing the caregivers she "dismisses" with another one and that would be a nightmare if I had to manage that!
year 2021...... “Ms Helpme, upon evaluation of financial documentation submitted for your mother’s LTC Medicaid application on 8/9/2021, please provide a detailed record for the following: 2019 - $5,678.90 in checks to others & $12,345.67 withdrawn in cash 2020 - $11,213.45 in checks to others & $9,876.54 in cash. In order for the State of Whatever to continue processing her Medicaid application, for each item provide a detailed record of what was paid along with receipts, invoices, personal care contracts, W-9, I-9, W-2 for 2019 & 2020, all IRS filings for 2019 & 2020. All items need to received by State of Whatever within 30 days of your receipt of this letter or the LTC Medicaid application will be removed from the system.”
Then what??? If you think Patsy Lou who has been paid $$ under the table is gonna nicely fill out info now, well imo not gonna happen. That is IF you can even find Patsy Lou now couple years later.
Realize in 2021, mom’s in a NH. LTC NH Medicaid application is done once they become & are a resident in a facility. There has been an admissions application & contract done between her & the NH. If she didn’t sign it then you as her contact on file or next of kin or nearest family member has signed it. Mom is creating a $$$ room & board bill each & every day she is there & once she files for Medicaid is having basically all her retirement &/or SS$ going to the NH as her copay. Mom will on her own have maybe 2k max in assets. Medicaid will send the request for info to you and CC to the NH as well. Ditto on if she should be determined to be ineligible or application is declined or suspended.
Unless you carefully & exactly signed each & every signature on the paperwork as “dpoa in your limited capacity” or whatever it needs be for your states laws on liability to not face the NH coming after you personally to pay mom’s bill, the NH will try to hound you to pay her bill.... and if not paid, then she gets a 30 day Notice from the NH to leave. Medicaid CC on correspondence to the facility puts them on alert that there are issues with the application.
30 Day Notice is very real. NH will not just blithely continue to have her stay at the place. Then what 2.0?? its years from now & mom is even more frail/ ill/ demented/ difficult.
really as others have written, you have to stop paying cash and either hire caregiver thru an reputable agency (who deal with the legal & tax stuff) or your mom hires them as household employees and mom files & pay all the taxes required as such. They can’t be 1099 contract labor. They won’t meet the IRS standards for contract labor
Thank you all for your answers, this is so hard, to worry about how far mom's money will go, the agencies charge so much more per house - terrible position to be in.
There is a lot wrong here and I hope it doesn’t bite you in the end. These workers are employees and cannot be filing 1099s. If they work for an agency, they are supposed to be w-2 employees. You should not be paying cash if you hired them. And you should be withholding income tax and paying quarterly taxes.
The cash you are giving caregivers is not being reported as income so yes Medicaid will see it as gifting. You would need them to agree that they got paid and they want cash so they don’t acknowledge to the government. If you are paying cash, short of a signed receipt and invoice you can’t prove anything. Their word against yours.
Are you getting receipts from them? Personally, I'd be leery of those who will only take cash. You need to focus on your needs as well, and those needs are documentation.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
You need to explain to the caregivers that mom will eventually need Medicaid and she can not qualify if their pay is not done legally. You need to protect mom. If they don't understand, are they really good caregivers?
Besides, it is illegal to earn money under the table and it puts you and mom at risk of a lawsuit in the event of an accident or injury. I guarantee that they will not say it's okay if the get hurt on the job, remember you are dealing with people that are potentially/probably committing tax evasion by being paid cash, speaks to their character.
Oh yes, the IRS will make you pay ALL the taxes that should have been withheld and paid, not a pleasurable payment to make.
“Ms Helpme, upon evaluation of financial documentation submitted for your mother’s LTC Medicaid application on 8/9/2021, please provide a detailed record for the following:
2019 - $5,678.90 in checks to others & $12,345.67 withdrawn in cash
2020 - $11,213.45 in checks to others & $9,876.54 in cash.
In order for the State of Whatever to continue processing her Medicaid application, for each item provide a detailed record of what was paid along with receipts, invoices, personal care contracts, W-9, I-9, W-2 for 2019 & 2020, all IRS filings for 2019 & 2020. All items need to received by State of Whatever within 30 days of your receipt of this letter or the LTC Medicaid application will be removed from the system.”
Then what???
If you think Patsy Lou who has been paid $$ under the table is gonna nicely fill out info now, well imo not gonna happen. That is IF you can even find Patsy Lou now couple years later.
Realize in 2021, mom’s in a NH. LTC NH Medicaid application is done once they become & are a resident in a facility. There has been an admissions application & contract done between her & the NH. If she didn’t sign it then you as her contact on file or next of kin or nearest family member has signed it. Mom is creating a $$$ room & board bill each & every day she is there & once she files for Medicaid is having basically all her retirement &/or SS$ going to the NH as her copay. Mom will on her own have maybe 2k max in assets. Medicaid will send the request for info to you and CC to the NH as well. Ditto on if she should be determined to be ineligible or application is declined or suspended.
Unless you carefully & exactly signed each & every signature on the paperwork as “dpoa in your limited capacity” or whatever it needs be for your states laws on liability to not face the NH coming after you personally to pay mom’s bill, the NH will try to hound you to pay her bill.... and if not paid, then she gets a 30 day Notice from the NH to leave. Medicaid CC on correspondence to the facility puts them on alert that there are issues with the application.
30 Day Notice is very real. NH will not just blithely continue to have her stay at the place. Then what 2.0??
its years from now & mom is even more frail/ ill/ demented/ difficult.
really as others have written, you have to stop paying cash and either hire caregiver thru an reputable agency (who deal with the legal & tax stuff) or your mom hires them as household employees and mom files & pay all the taxes required as such. They can’t be 1099 contract labor. They won’t meet the IRS standards for contract labor