SECTION 1.  Section 5 of chapter 59 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following clause:—

Fifty-sixth.  The sum of $3,500 for caregivers providing medical assistance and care to spouses or dependents 65 years of age or older with long-term care needs, on property occupied by them as their domicile. For the purposes of this clause, a person with long term care needs shall be a person who has three or more limitations in activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring and continence management, or, a person with severe cognitive impairments that requires substantial supervision to be protected from threats to their health and safety due to this condition and has difficulty with one or more of the activities of daily living, or a person who has been certified by a physician to be an individual with long term care needs, for at least 180 consecutive days and a portion of which has occurred within the taxable year.