Caution – more than one person has ended up in hot water with the Feds by trying to get around the $10,000 cash reporting by reporting multiples of large cash sums just under the $10,000 dividing line. They could simply deposit in a bank and wire the money – or buy cashiers checks, etc.

File regardless – if due a refund including possible credits – no penalty. IF you owe – send a paper return requesting a waiver of penalties due to your health – they will likely honor that – but due to Covid – paper returns could take over a year to get processed.

No taxes due on a personal residence sale if under $250,000 gain – and being a care giver for your mom – you may be eligible for payments from Medicare – or if you pay most of the bills – get the $500 exemption credit – plus stimulus payments for both of you.

Why is that?

There’s no way to answer that online. You’ll either have to work the numbers through a tax prep software package, like TurboTax, or crunch the numbers with a tax preparer.