Tax Credits for Carers of Elderly or Disabled - (Hawaii)

'Solving' Hawaii's Problems with More Taxes?
By Lowell L. Kalapa, 2/25/2008 12:05:52 AM

We warned you that our elected officials lack the imagination and creativity to respond to problems with real, well-thought out solutions and instead fall back on their usual tried and true tax incentive thinking.
This legislative insanity knows no limits, as there are tax incentives for this and tax incentives for that. Many of these proposals under consideration are a result of the legislature's inability to make hard decisions.
For example, lawmakers feel sorry for taxpayers who give up their jobs in order to provide care for a disabled or elderly relative so they are considering a tax credit of up to $1,000 for the caregiver depending on the caregiver's adjusted gross income.
While it sounds great and after all those care giving relatives gave up their jobs, lawmakers seem to fail to heed the stories reported in the media about elder abuse. They choose to ignore the fact that often times the perpetrator of elder abuse is the relative providing the care. And that?s the point they miss in just handing out free candy in the form of tax incentives, that there is no assurance that the care being provided is quality care. Ah, but this was one of the recommendations of the "aging-in-place" task force that they put together over the interim.
They seem to ignore that the cause of elder abuse is the stress under which the caregiver must labor 24/7 with a relative because the elder may not be completely competent. It has been pointed out that revenue forgone by handing out this tax credit might have provided respite care so the relative caregiver could drop off the elder once or twice a week to take time out from the stress of caring for that elderly relative.
Further revenue forgone in handing out the tax credit could instead be used to train the caregiver in how to provide quality care, from how to help a person stand up from a seated position to how to bathe the elderly relative. This is just one of the ways that the quality of care could be improved.

Abridged Article. Pls. go to SOURCE: hawaiireporter