Paying Taxes on Household Help

If you employ someone to work for you around your house, it is important to consider the tax implications of this arrangement. While many people disregard the need to pay taxes on household employees, they do so at the risk of paying stiff tax penalties down the road.

As you will see, the rules for hiring household help are quite complex, even for a relatively minor employee, and a mistake can bring on a tax headache that most of us would prefer to avoid.

Commonly referred to as the “nanny tax”, these rules apply to you only if (1) you pay someone for household work and (2) that worker is your employee.

1. Household work is work that is performed in or around your home by baby-sitters, nannies, health aides, private nurses, maids, caretakers, yard workers, and similar domestic workers.

   A household worker is your employee if you control not only what work is done, but how it is done.

Who Is a Household Employee?

If a worker is your employee, it does not matter whether the work is full-time or part-time or that you hired the worker through an agency or from a list provided by an agency or association. It also does not matter whether you pay the worker on an hourly, daily or weekly basis or by the job.

If the worker controls how the work is done, the worker is not your employee but is self-employed. A self-employed worker usually provides his or her own tools and offers services to the general public in an independent business.

Also, if an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how it is done, the worker is not your employee.

Example: You pay Bethany to babysit your child and do light housework four days a week in your home. Bethany follows your specific instructions about household and childcare duties. You provide the household equipment and supplies that Bethany needs to do her work. Bethany is your household employee.

Example: You pay John to care for your lawn. John also offers lawn care services to other homeowners in your neighborhood. He provides his own tools and supplies, and he hires and pays any helpers he needs. Neither John nor his helpers are your household employees.

Can Your Employee Legally Work in the United States?

When you hire a household employee to work for you on a regular basis, he or she must complete USCIS Form I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification. It is your responsibility to verify that the employee is either a U.S. citizen or an alien who can legally work and then complete the employer part of the form. It is unlawful for you to knowingly hire or continue to employ a person who cannot legally work in the United States.

Keep the completed form for your records. Do not return the form to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

Tip: Two copies of Form I-9 are contained in the UCIS Employer Handbook. Visit the USCIS website or call 800-375-5283 to order the handbook, additional copies of the form, or to get more information, or give us a call.

Do You Need to Pay Employment Taxes?

If you have a household employee, you may need to withhold and pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, or you may need to pay federal unemployment tax or both. Refer to this table for details:

If neither of these two contingencies applies, you do not need to pay any federal unemployment taxes. But you may still need to pay state unemployment taxes (see below).

You do not need to withhold federal income tax from your household employee’s wages. But if your employee asks you to withhold it, you can choose to do so.

Tip: If your household employee cares for your dependent that is under the age of 13 or your spouse or dependent that is not capable of self-care, so that you can work, you may be able to take an income tax credit of up to 35 percent (or $1,050) of your expenses for each qualifying dependent. If you can take the credit, then you can include your share of the federal and state employment taxes you pay, as well as the employee’s wages, in your qualifying expenses.

State Unemployment Taxes

Please contact us if you’re not sure whether you need to pay state unemployment tax for your household employee. We’ll also help you figure out whether you need to pay or collect other state employment taxes or carry workers’ compensation insurance.

Note: If you do not need to pay Social Security, Medicare, or federal unemployment tax and do not choose to withhold federal income tax, the rest of this article does not apply to you.

Social Security and Medicare Taxes

Social Security taxes pays for old-age, survivor, and disability benefits for workers and their families. The Medicare tax pays for hospital insurance.

Both you and your household employee may owe Social Security and Medicare taxes. Your share is 7.65 percent (6.2 percent for Social Security tax and 1.45 percent for Medicare tax) of the employee’s Social Security and Medicare wages. Your employee’s share is 6.2 percent for Social Security tax and 1.45 percent for Medicare tax.

You are responsible for payment of your employee’s share of the taxes as well as your own. You can either withhold your employee’s share from the employee’s wages or pay it from your own funds. Note the limits in the table above.

Note: As of January 1, 2013, employers are responsible for withholding the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on an individual’s wages paid in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. An employer is required to begin withholding Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which it pays wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee. There is no employer match for Additional Medicare Tax.

Wages Not Counted

Do not count wages you pay to any of the following individuals as Social Security and Medicare wages:

1. Your spouse.
2. Your child who is under age 21.
3. Your parent.

Note: However, you should count wages to your parent if they are caring for your child and both of the following apply: (a) your child lives with you and is either under age 18 or has a physical or mental condition that requires the personal care of an adult for at least four continuous weeks in a calendar quarter, and (b) you are divorced and have not remarried, or you are a widow or widower, or you are married to and living with a person whose physical or mental condition prevents him or her from caring for your child for at least four continuous weeks in a calendar quarter.

1. An employee who is under age 18 at any time during the year.

Note: However, you should count these wages to an employee under 18 if providing household services is the employee’s principal occupation. If the employee is a student, providing household services is not considered to be his or her principal occupation.

Also, if your employee’s Social Security and Medicare wages reach $127,200 in 2017 ($118,500 in 2016), then do not count any wages you pay that employee during the rest of the year as Social Security wages to figure Social Security tax. You should, however, continue to count the employee’s cash wages as Medicare wages to figure Medicare tax. You figure federal income tax withholding on both cash and non-cash wages (based on their value), but do not count as wages any of the following items:

• Meals provided at your home for your convenience.
• Lodging provided at your home for your convenience and as a condition of employment.
• Up to $255 a month in 2017 for transit passes that you give your employee or, in some cases, for cash reimbursement you make for the amount your employee pays to commute to your home by public transit. A transit pass includes any pass, token, fare card, voucher, or similar item entitling a person to ride on mass transit, such as a bus or train.
• Up to $255 a month in 2017 to reimburse your employee for the cost of parking at or near your home or at or near a location from which your employee commutes to your home.

As you can see, tax considerations for household employees are complex; therefore, professional tax guidance is highly recommended. This is definitely an area where it’s better to be safe than sorry. If you have any questions at all, please call.