Today's families want to assist their aging loved ones to safely age in place, and increasingly hiring senior caregivers to provide care and support is the ideal solution.  There are many misunderstandings and misconceptions about the relationship with the caregiver and their payroll deductions. Many people think that their caregiver is not an actual “employee” and that they can just pay them in cash and call it good. Hiring a caregiver, for your aging loved one, whether they are an live-in caregiver, or one that works a set number of hours per day, means that you will need to understand the importance of senior care payroll deductions. Here are some must-knows about paying your senior caregiver.

The City of Philadelphia joins 10 states and two other cities with legislation known as a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights. This legislation is part of a decade long community level movement nationwide to establish basic worker protections to the growing domestic services industry. While the numbers of nannies and housekeepers remains stable, the in-home senior care component of the domestic services field continues to experience vigorous growth as aging baby boomers overwhelmingly prefer to "age in place," therefore requiring senior caregivers to help them remain safe and independent.

You’ve hired a nanny and now comes the details of getting payroll set up with proper taxes withheld. It might seem like a good idea to pay your nanny partly on the books with the rest of payments off the record, because it could save you on taxes while still contributing to her work history. However, there are a variety of reasons you should not go this route, which we cover here.

The health insurance marketplace continues to change, and starting 1 January 2020 employers of nannies, senior caregivers, and other household employees will have a new choice for assisting or supporting their employees with their health insurance and other health care expenses.

All employers in the U.S. have to pay unemployment tax. There are two versions – Federal and State. Federal unemployment tax (FUTA) is charged at a rate of 6% on the first $7000 in wages paid to an employee, in most cases though that rate is decreased to 0.6% (explained more below). State unemployment tax (SUTA) is handled in a similar way but each state controls their own rate and wage threshold.

Household employees provide a valuable service to homes around the country, but when it comes to paying the person and adhering to proper tax laws, it can get confusing. Your role as a CPA or financial advisor is valuable, as you can explain some of these laws and answer questions on some of the basics. It is important to note that nannies, senior care professionals, private housekeepers, or personal assistants are not independent contractors and cannot be paid as such. Household employees are exactly that: employees.

It is important to note that nannies, senior care professionals, private housekeepers, or personal assistants are not independent contractors and cannot be paid as such.

According to the IRS, thousands of people have had money and personal information stolen through tax-related scams. Scammers are getting more refined, making it harder than ever to separate real correspondence from fake. Here are two of the more popular tax-related scams the IRS has seen this year.

Nanny Taxes are a very narrow but complex piece of the tax code; as such they are easy to miss and can cause considerable headaches to fix. The following case study is from a real client. The names have been changed but the rest is true.  Read on for an example of what can go wrong, even for the best of us.

The U.S. Department of Labor has updated the salary threshold for executive, administrative, and professional employees. The threshold was last set in 2004 and this update takes into account inflation and wage growth since that time. There has also been an update to the total annual compensation level for “highly compensated employees.”

Jury duty: some people dread getting called, others welcome the chance to do their civic duty and experience a bit of change of pace from their regular workday. However, when your household employee gets called to jury duty, it can be a strain on your home, and you may need to adjust schedules in order to cover your employee’s absence. When it comes to payment, you might be wondering if they need to be paid while they are on jury duty. Here are the details you should know.