Household employers are not legally obligated to pay for ANY holidays or time off. It is true, however, that some baseline provision of paid holidays is a general expectation of household employees. Many nannies, especially those working without a written work agreement in place, worry about their income during the busy holiday season. Will they receive pay on holidays? Will they be paid for those regular days when they are not needed due to holiday travel or entertainment?

Household employers in San Francisco California have local, city employment ordinances they must comply with, in addition the California Wage Order 15, California EDD taxation, and Federal tax and labor law.

San Jose’s Measure D, which will increase the current city’s minimum wage from $8 to $10 per hour effective March 2013, passed with overwhelming voter support. 

San Jose is now one of the two cities in California whose minimum wage has gone up independently of the state's.  San Francisco has enforced its own minimum wage for many years.  There are only a handful of other cities nationwide that set their own minimum wages: Washington, D.C., Santa Fe and Albuquerque, N.M.

Household employers in San Jose whose pay their employees minimum wage need to adjust their salary to reflect this new rate in March 2013.

Stay tuned for more updates from The Nanny Tax Experts.

IRS and states recently affected by Hurricane Sandy will extend tax deadlines and waive some penalties to tax payers affected by this natural disaster.

Many people hear the words "nanny confidentiality agreement" and think this is something Brad and Angelina need - not their family!

Tax Commissioner Craig M. Burns has announced that Virginia will provide a penalty waiver to those individuals and businesses affected by Hurricane Sandy. This penalty waiver applies to any late returns filed or payments made by affected taxpayers between October 29, 2012 and November 9, 2012. To notify the Department of Taxation that you were affected by Hurricane Sandy, you must write “Hurricane Sandy” at the top of your return. The Department of Taxation will then abate any late-filing or late-payment penalties that would otherwise apply.

To qualify for this penalty waiver, taxpayers must be unable to meet their filing obligations because the financial books and records they need to file their taxes are unavailable because of hurricane damage or power outage.

Household employers in New York directly affected by Hurricane Sandy have until November 14, 2012 to file and pay Quarter 3 2012 employment taxes via NYS-45. "Directly affected" is defined in the notice linked below.

There is no extension for NYS-1 withholding tax payment deadlines.

Sharing with you an article prepared by a CPA as part of an October series titled "Women, Work and Money." The series is sponsored by a generous grant from the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.

The IRS has issued interium guidance and a detailed FAQ on changes to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) application process. An ITIN is a number similar to a Social Security number which is issued by the IRS to taxpayers who are not eligible for Social Security numbers but need a tax identification number for tax filing and other purposes. Household employees who are not eligible for a SSN are almost always aliens working without valid US work authorization. Families who hire these undocumented workers are in violation of US immigration law and are still legally responsible to report and pay all employment taxes.The IRS is making changes to the ITIN application process in response to documented tax fraud associated with these identification numbers.

A quick update for HomeWork Solutions' clients and their caregivers...