Nanny does not want to file taxes

[Anonymous]

We finally found a nanny that we like. She does not want to file income tax and does not want to have a record that she is working even though she is legal to work. She is recently widowed so I guess filing nanny taxes may push her over certain limits that could trigger some undesirable tax consequences. What should I to?

[Anonymous]

OMG, you either pay her in cash off the books (like most of America pays domestics) or you kiss her goodbye. I'm sorry.

[Anonymous]

Either you break the law and possibly pay the consequences for that it or you find a new nanny. If it were an afternoon nanny I would be fine with going off the books, but definitely not for a full time nanny.

[Anonymous]

Either you condone her breaking the law and agree to be complicit, or you don't agree to be complicit. If you do, you are breaking the law as well, and even if she gets hit for it, you'll bear the brunt more.

[Anonymous]

People in Hell want ice water. Tough.

[Anonymous]

You are not her slavemaster so please don't try to control her. She told you how she wants to be paid so please do it.

[Anonymous]

You realize that your question is actually "should I commit tax fraud?" You should not have to post to a message board to get the answer, but since you did, here it is.

No. No, you should not commit tax fraud. It's bad. Find a law-abiding, ethical person to care for and help raise your child. You'll be glad you did.

Hope that helps!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are not her slavemaster so please don't try to control her. She told you how she wants to be paid so please do it.

If it were only about the nanny's wishes, like check versus direct deposit, that would be fine. But this nanny is asking OP to break the law. And while the nanny would have to pay back taxes and fines if she were caught, OP would face much bigger fines, possibly jail time. Tax evasion is a felony, not filing your return is just a misdemeanor.

[Anonymous]

IRS doesn't much care, unless you want a White House job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IRS doesn't much care, unless you want a White House job.

Actually, no. There are plenty of jobs which require a security clearance, and most aren't in the White House. Anytime they run a security clearance, they have a right to dig into anything, and that includes taxes. Many people don't know that they are going to need a security clearance until later.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IRS doesn't much care, unless you want a White House job.

Actually, no. There are plenty of jobs which require a security clearance, and most aren't in the White House. Anytime they run a security clearance, they have a right to dig into anything, and that includes taxes. Many people don't know that they are going to need a security clearance until later.

Where would they need to dig to find out they paid a nanny in cash?

I've heard of an employer who pays minimum wage on the books, and another big chunk in cash along with the pay checks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:IRS doesn't much care, unless you want a White House job.

Actually, no. There are plenty of jobs which require a security clearance, and most aren't in the White House. Anytime they run a security clearance, they have a right to dig into anything, and that includes taxes. Many people don't know that they are going to need a security clearance until later.

Where would they need to dig to find out they paid a nanny in cash?

I've heard of an employer who pays minimum wage on the books, and another big chunk in cash along with the pay checks.

It's as simple as looking at their bank records, seeing amounts go out on a regular basis, but no paper trail for where it went. Yes, there would be questions, and none of the possible answers (drugs, bribes, tax evasion, etc) would result in the needed security clearance. If the person has children of an age to need childcare and there's no obvious answer, I would assume that it would be easy to put two and two together.

I consider that irrelevant. It's against the law, therefore make sure you follow the law.

[Anonymous]

Why would you want to hire someone who want to break the law, this already says dishonest? You are saying you really like the person but do you want someone to teach your child how to cheat and break the law?

[Anonymous]

Very few people do taxes, not something I'd spend too much time worrying about. When Walmart, the NFL, and all the other fat cat multi billion dollar companies start paying their fair share, then we'll talk. I'm sick of the little guy picking up the slack for the wealthy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are not her slavemaster so please don't try to control her. She told you how she wants to be paid so please do it.

If it were only about the nanny's wishes, like check versus direct deposit, that would be fine. But this nanny is asking OP to break the law. And while the nanny would have to pay back taxes and fines if she were caught, OP would face much bigger fines, possibly jail time. Tax evasion is a felony, not filing your return is just a misdemeanor.

OP faces no penalty because it is up to nanny to file taxes if she wishes. If what you say was true no company would ever hire a contractor for fear they might not pay their own taxes and the company gets held liable! Think it through my dear.