There is good news for household employers who pay their nanny or senior caregiver "on the books."  These employers are often eligible for tax savings on their personal income tax returns.  And these tax savings often go a long way towards offsetting the household employer taxes they paid!

The IRS reports that audits of tax returns with income over $200,000 increased by 13% in 2012 over the prior year. The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch recently published advice on 5 steps to take to avoid an IRS audit on your Federal income tax return.

Rhode Island kicks off tax amnesty program.  If you are a Rhode Island tax payer and are delinquent on any states taxes, you will soon have an opportunity to come current on your taxes without having to pay any penalties.  The Rhode Island Department of Taxation announced the amnesty program in its most recent newsletter, joining a handful of states offering amnesty to individuals and/ or businesses.

The Form 1040 Schedule H is the vehicle that household employers use to report wages paid and employment taxes due for household workers. This form is a bit more complex for 2011 due to 2 significant events.

We have helped families with their nanny payroll and tax issues for nearly 20 years. Some family and nanny questions are timeless. Here is a little of what we hear. Remember, there are very thorough answers to many common questions in our online FAQ.

1. I had a serious misunderstanding with my family and left my nanny job without notice. I received a text from my employer, a lawyer, asking for my mailing address so she could "1099" me. Isn't she supposed to give me a W-2? What does this mean?

Nannies are employees of the families that they work for and the wages nannies receive are subject to Federal and State employment taxes. These employment taxes are paid to the government by the employer, and the employer is entitled to deduct your portion from your paycheck. If the employer does not deduct, THEY remain responsible for paying. YOU are responsible for your income taxes.

Your employer is legally obligated to provide you a W-2 form no later than January 31, 2012 for your 2011 employment.

2. I agreed to work for a family for cash - under the table. We agreed on a rate knowing that no taxes would be deducted or reported. My boss has been collecting money from a special tax free account, and just learned she has to pay taxes and report my income. What does this mean to me?

When you agree to work under the table both you and your employer are agreeing to violate tax law, and there can be consequences to both of you if you are caught. Fortunately for you, it sounds like this can be rectified in a timely manner assuming you are referring to 2011 wages.

Your employer will need to give you a W-2 that documents the wages you were paid. She will file this with the Social Security Administration. She will have to pay the IRS the Social Security and Medicare taxes on your wage, and will likely need to pay unemployment taxes too. Your W-2 will show that NO income tax was deducted from your wage; this is legal in household employment. You will need to complete an annual income tax return to calculate the amount of tax due, if any, and make your payment to the IRS. Don't ignore the W-2 - the IRS will know you received one and will catch up with you sooner, rather than later. Enforcement is always stepped up when there are budget deficits and government programs awaiting funding.

3. I hired a foreign nanny who is here legally on a visa but she doesn't have a Social Security Card. What do we do about the taxes?
There are two possible scenarios at play here. The first is that your nanny is both legally present and legally authorized to work in the U.S. and is simply awaiting her SSN. If that is the case, the situation will resolve in about 6 - 8 weeks as that is the typical turn around time for a Social Security Number application. You need to report all income and pay all taxes from the date she starts, whether she has the number yet or not. Depending on your state taxing authority, you may incur a small penalty on your first filing if this number is not included.

The second possible scenario is that your nanny is legally present (has a visa) but does not have authorization to work in the U.S. By hiring her you both are in violation of U.S. law. You the employer are only permitted to hire citizens, permanent residents, or legal non-immigrants with a valid work visa. She too is violating her visa. This is a somewhat common occurrence with foreign students admitted to the U.S. to pursue university studies. You will have all of the employment tax obligations of an employer - the IRS does not care if your nanny is legal to work or not. Your nanny will file a W-7 application for a Individual Taxpayer ID Number (ITIN) with her first tax return (usually a 1040NR) and be issued an identifying number by the IRS. Therefore, for the first year all of your filings will be missing a SSN/ITIN, but in future year filings you will be able to utilize her ITIN for tax payment purposes.

Did you know that a family in DC will spend an average of $18,200 per year on child care? According to the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) recent study, many families pay more for a year of early child care than they would pay for a year's tuition at a public university!

Employing a nanny is expensive. After the family's mortgage payment, the nanny's salary is often the biggest expense in the household. Add the cost of taxes on top of this and many families wonder "Why?" They reason that not paying the taxes lets the nanny keep more money and saves them 10% on taxes. The nanny makes little enough anyway - why should she have to pay tax?
Reporting nanny wages and paying Social Security taxes is the law. It is also the right thing to do for your nanny. Think about it. When you and your nanny agree to pay 'off the books' you are mutually agreeing to break the law. Is that the way you want your employment relationship with your nanny to start out? What message does that send her?

Risks of Nanny Tax Avoidance...