nd can also be an opportunity for learning about how governments are run with tax revenues.
Note: One side benefit of getting your kids involved in money management is that it may help to avoid the "math phobia" some kids experience in junior high school.
Tip: Professional guidance should be considered for a life event change as major as a marriage of divorce.
Source: Expenditures on Children By Families 2013, US Department of Agriculture Publication Number 1528-2013. Before-tax Income of $61,530 and $106,540 (Average = $82,790).
|Child's Age||Misc.||Housing||Food||Transport||Clothing||Health Care||Child Care & Education||Total|
|Up to 2||$910||$4,070||$1,450||$1,730||$790||$900||$3,090||$12,940|
The "Nanny Tax" Rules: What To Do If You Have Household Employees
If you have a household employee, you may need to pay state and federal employment taxes. Which forms do you need to file for your household employees? Is your maid, housekeeper, or babysitter covered by the rules? This Financial Guide provides the answers to these and other questions.
This Financial Guide will help you decide whether you have a "household employee," as defined by the IRS, and, if you do, whether you need to pay federal employment taxes. It explains the rules for determining, paying, and reporting Social Security tax, Medicare tax, federal unemployment tax, federal income tax withholding, and state unemployment tax for your household employee. It also explains what records you need to keep. In addition, it provides you with the information you need to find out whether you need to pay state unemployment tax for your household employee.
While many people disregard the need to pay taxes on household employees, they do so at the risk of stiff tax penalties. As you will see below, these rules are quite complex and professional tax guidance is highly recommended.
A basic familiarity with these rules will make it easier to work with your tax advisor, saving you time, reducing tax costs, and avoiding tax penalties and interest charges.
The "nanny tax" rules apply to you only if (1) you pay someone for household work and (2) that worker is your employee.
- A household employee is someone who does work in or around your home. Examples of household employees include baby sitters, nannies, health aides, private nurses, maids, caretakers, yard workers, and similar domestic workers.
- A household worker is your employee if you can control not only what work is done, but how it is done. If the 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.
On the other hand, if only the worker can control 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. 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 Betty to babysit your child and do light housework four days a week in your home. Betty follows your specific instructions about household and child care duties. You provide the household equipment and supplies that Betty needs to do her work. Betty 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.
It is unlawful for you to knowingly hire or continue to employ a person who cannot 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