Taxes for night nurse/baby nurse?

[Anonymous]

We plan to hire a night nurse for a 6-8 weeks when our twins arrive. We will likely exceed $1800 in payments to her.

What tax implications, if any, does this create for us? I'm familiar with the tax and legal implications of hiring a nanny as an employee, but am not sure about a night nurse for a couple months. We need to do this clean and by the books. Is there a difference if we hire a service (more expensive) or an individual? Most individuals seem to want to be paid in cash.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

I'm guessing that if she's an IC, there's a process for that? But if she's asking for cash, that's not a good sign, OP. You may want to offer to pay her taxes for her, or pay a higher rate so she can afford her own taxes. You need to discuss it with her asap.

[Anonymous]

Unlike Nannies, Baby Nurses/Newborn Care Specialists can be Independent Contractors. From what I understand they do all the taxes themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unlike Nannies, Baby Nurses/Newborn Care Specialists can be Independent Contractors. From what I understand they do all the taxes themselves.

Based on what? Haven't seen anything to indicate that.

[Anonymous]

The way it was explained to me it's because baby nurses come in to your house for a short amount of time and can even have more that one client at a time (similar to housekeepers) The nature of their job is that they work a short amount of time and frequently have many clients over the year.

[Anonymous]

I think a night nurse is more like an IC--they generally work for a short term for different clients, and may even work for several clients at the same time.

Whatever you do, don't pay cash if you want this above board. A service may be more expensive, but it should be able to help you deal with the legalities.

[Anonymous]

Most agencies stay out of the legalities. They cover themselves by suggesting what you should do, but don't want to get involved.

[nannydebsays]

I would first speak with your tax adviser to get info on how to manage payments to her as if she was an Independent Contractor or as if she is an employee.

Then ask the person you hire how she handles her taxes, and do so in a way that makes it clear you will either be having her fill out a W4 and sending her a W2 in January, or that you will be sending her a 1099 in January.

Then follow through with whichever income reporting method you and she choose to use. If YOU do everything correctly and have the paperwork to back that up, then you have covered yourself. (Again, I am NOT a tax adviser, so confirm this with one!) If the person you hire doesn't correctly report, I believe that is on her as far as penalties and such are concerned.

[Anonymous]

Baby nurses are independent contractors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baby nurses are independent contractors.

According to ...... ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baby nurses are independent contractors.

According to ...... ?

Everyone?

Google it maybe?

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the PP's-

I am working towards becoming a Certified Newborn Care Specialist. I know this isn't official, but every Baby Nurse I have talked to (and this has been several) does their taxes an Independent Contractor.

The way it was explained to me is because they choose their clients, set their own hours, work short periods of time, work for several different clients over the year, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the PP's-

I am working towards becoming a Certified Newborn Care Specialist. I know this isn't official, but every Baby Nurse I have talked to (and this has been several) does their taxes an Independent Contractor.

The way it was explained to me is because they choose their clients, set their own hours, work short periods of time, work for several different clients over the year, etc.

Some specialized nannies meet the same criteria.

[Anonymous]

Most of us work as an IC and handle the taxes ourselves. This is not technically 100% legal- it's on the fringe, but is the industry norm.

That said, I did this work for 5-6 mos for a family where one parent was high up working on a presidential campaign. Their accountant felt they needed to treat me as an employee out of an abundance of caution so that is how we did it. In most cases though we could make over $1800 in 2 weeks, so having potentially 26 employers or more for the year would be ridiculous. This along with it being a pretty different dynamic to nannying is why we treat ourselves as an IC in the majority of cases. You're right though to realize it's a gray zone, and if you've got a high security clearance/high profile job you will definitely want to consult with a tax professional- I'd suggest someone that actually works with household employment issues like Kathy Webb at 4nannytaxes.com. She's local so may have more perspective on issues that can be a bit unique to DC.

Congratulations on your twins!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm one of the PP's-

I am working towards becoming a Certified Newborn Care Specialist. I know this isn't official, but every Baby Nurse I have talked to (and this has been several) does their taxes an Independent Contractor.

The way it was explained to me is because they choose their clients, set their own hours, work short periods of time, work for several different clients over the year, etc.

You may want to spend your time & money getting training from an accredited school in newborn care.

Many find this "certified" NCS class to be questionable. Creating a training program you benefit financially from while also being the person to decide its good enough to "certify" you is just crazy. I could create a program and then certify you to the same effect. Means nothing.