A $5,000 credit proposed for daytime care: what families should know

Thousands of families in Puerto Rico live the same impossible math: they work full time and, at the same time, care for a loved one with functional diversity or total dependence. Paying for formal care so they can keep working costs thousands a month. This week, a legislative measure proposes easing that burden with a tax credit of up to $5,000 a year.

What does House Bill 1476 propose?

Representative Roberto López Román filed House Bill 1476 (Proyecto de la Cámara 1476), which would create the «Crédito Contributivo Reembolsable por Gastos de Cuido Diurno de Personas con Impedimento Más Significativo y Dependencia Total» (Refundable Tax Credit for Daytime Care Expenses of Persons with More Significant Disabilities and Total Dependence). In simple terms: if you work and pay for formal daytime care for a dependent with a severe disability, you could receive up to $5,000 a year as a credit on your tax return. Because it's refundable, the benefit would reach you even if your tax liability is less than the credit.

As the legislator explained on Radio Isla 1320, the measure could benefit some 20,000 people on the island.

Who could benefit?

The bill targets workers earning under $200,000 a year who have under their legal guardianship or direct care a person with a significant disability or total dependence. The measure expressly mentions bedridden participants and people with severe-stage Alzheimer's.

To validate eligibility, the bill would require certification from a licensed physician and the official evaluation of the Defensoría de las Personas con Impedimentos (DPI, Puerto Rico's Office of the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities).

What it would cover (and what it wouldn't)

The most important point for families: the credit would apply exclusively to daytime care services that allow the guardian or responsible family member to keep working. Permanent 24-hour-or-longer service would be excluded.

That makes sense: the measure seeks to keep the worker from having to leave their job to provide care. A daytime home care plan —like 8-hours-a-day companionship, several days a week— falls exactly within what the bill describes.

The bill's statement of motives puts the numbers on the table: formally hiring a home caregiver for a basic daytime shift can exceed $4,811 a month (over $57,000 a year), and a specialized daytime care center costs between $1,900 and $3,800 a month. Those are figures that today force many professionals out of the workforce or into the informal economy.

The key requirement: formality

Here's the condition that matters most to us as an agency: to claim the credit, the caregiver or care center would have to be registered as a merchant in SURI (Sistema Unificado de Rentas Internas, the Puerto Rico Treasury Department's unified tax system). The bill would also create a Tax Relief Fund for Caregivers and establish strict oversight, with penalties of up to $10,000 and criminal referral for anyone who falsely certifies a diagnosis.

The legislator's message was direct: the benefit is for those who file tax returns and are in the formal economy. Under-the-table care wouldn't qualify.

What families can do starting now

Although the bill isn't law yet, families paying for care today can prepare:

• Hire formal providers. Work only with agencies or caregivers registered as merchants in SURI, who issue invoices and written contracts.
• Keep everything. Contracts, invoices, payment receipts, and tax returns. If the credit is approved, evidence of formal spending will be your ticket in.
• Document the condition. Keep the medical certification of the diagnosis and any official evaluation up to date.
• Plan daytime care. If you work and need coverage during your shift, a weekly daytime plan is exactly the kind of service the measure contemplates.

Where Cuidado de Oro fits

We're a registered agency: Cuidado de Oro Home Care LLC (registration #592292), registered as a merchant in SURI. We issue a formal written contract and quote for every service, and our weekly daytime home care plans —from 8 hours a day, 3 days a week— are designed so you can keep working with peace of mind.

If PC 1476 becomes law, our requesting family members would already have the formal documentation the credit would require. And if it isn't approved, you'll still have hired a serious service, with backup and in writing. In both scenarios, formality protects you.

We'll keep following this measure's progress and will update this article when there's movement in the Legislature.

Sources: Metro Puerto Rico (Oct 7, 2026); Ey Boricua; Radio Isla.