Anonymous wrote:If we pay our nanny 24 an hour, including her employee taxes, that means she nets about $20 an hour, right?
Going forward, we are looking for a new nanny and would like to pay less (we realize we're paying at the top of the market, at the time we needed to due to some family stressors) and our needs have changed at home. Is it reasonable to be looking for a nanny for $16 an hour and that they are responsible for their own taxes at the end of the year? Basically a 1099 employee .This would be for one new born and a 6 year old who is in school full time 40 hours a week. We're in NW dc and I am a part time WOHM.
Thoughts?
No. You cannot 1099 a nanny. To pay a household employee legally, you must have them fill out a W4 before starting work, withhold their share of SS/Medicare taxes, possibly withhold Fed/State/Local taxes, submit your share of forms and payments to the IRS, and give your employee a W2 in January so that she can properly file her 1040 form.
IRS Form 926 covers your legal obligations, and googling "is nanny an employee" will garner you all sorts of useful and informative articles addressing your question.