Filing for taxes is hard enough for the mentally sound. Ploughing through tax forms, available deductions, hidden loopholes and the fear of a tax audit can turn most people quite batty around this time of the year. But for those whose mental faculties may be failing, the tax season can be especially taxing. In fact, extreme confusion and disarray during tax time may signal the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease for some elderly citizens.
"Jim Saye first realized his mother had Alzheimer’s disease when he found her unfinished and error-riddled income tax forms spread across her table. His father-in-law, before being diagnosed years later, had made so many mistakes in his tax forms that the Internal Revenue Service sent letters threatening to seize his property. It was all a wake-up call for Saye, now on the board of directors for the Alzheimer’s Association in Houston.
As this year’s April 17 tax-filing deadline approaches, Saye and experts familiar with Alzheimer’s say it’s a good time to reach out to elderly family members who may be in the early stages of the dread disease. "This," said Saye, "is a typical threshold moment for Alzheimer’s families.
Tax time is daunting enough for the mentally acute. For people in the early throes of dementia, finding all the documents and receipts they need to complete the tedious IRS forms can be a near-impossible task.
Stephen McConnell, vice president of advocacy and public policy for the Alzheimer’s Association, said that managing finances is often one of the earliest skills to be compromised by the disease.
"Many people with this disease are able to mask it. They have developed patterns and ways of getting by that can disguise the disease," said McConnell, whose office is in Washington, D.C. "What the tax filing does is it makes public to the IRS that there is a problem."
IRS officials say they have no idea how many people miss the deadline or file erroneous forms because of Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. They say they can waive penalties and collection actions if they are informed about the impairment."
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