Whoops! Tax fraud plans. Darn autocorrect!

Btw, you don't have to have a sitter's ss# to put in for a child care deduction. It just makes the record more complete. So you might want to discuss your tax friar plans with the family explicitly!

Hth!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Raise your rates. Done.

That only solves the future issue, not the actual current problem. But I like your sass.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your feedback. It's all been settled.

How did you settle it, OP?

Oh please. I am employed on the books with my employers who I work for on a regular basis. I'm not going to get taxed over my off hours sitting with other families. It's not hypocrisy. If an employer hires a nanny for regular care, taxes should be taken out appropriately.

Anonymous wrote:Exactly. Raise your rates. Done.

That only solves the future issue, not the actual current problem. But I like your sass.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your feedback. It's all been settled.

Exactly. Raise your rates. Done.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, by law they don't issue a w-2 or 1099 if the amount paid is below the legal threshold. The sitter, in that case, is solely responsible for declaring and paying the taxes.

How many casual babysitters do you think are paying all the taxes on income below the legal threshold, when they don't even get a W2 or 1099?
Hint: zero

This. I pay taxes on my actual job. I'm not paying more on the odd babysitting I do here and there, that allow me to actually go out to dinner for a change, or buy the new pair of winter boots I really needed. The vast majority of people do not claim every cent they make each year. If I had to guess, most MBs on here have HHIs well over $100K, and likely pay an overall tax rate lower than me, after all the deductions, on my $38K/year. Lay off it.

OP don't give them anything. They're trying to get a tax deduction, and you will pay for it. If you really want to keep working for them, tell them that you'll cooperate, but if the job will now be over the table, you'll be raising your rates to compensate.

Anonymous wrote:No, by law they don't issue a w-2 or 1099 if the amount paid is below the legal threshold. The sitter, in that case, is solely responsible for declaring and paying the taxes.

How many casual babysitters do you think are paying all the taxes on income below the legal threshold, when they don't even get a W2 or 1099?
Hint: zero

Anonymous wrote:No, by law they don't issue a w-2 or 1099 if the amount paid is below the legal threshold. The sitter, in that case, is solely responsible for declaring and paying the taxes.

As an IC? You're a jackass.

Anonymous wrote:Op how did your identity get stolen twice ? Just curious.

It's more common than you think.
It's happened to me twice and my husband once.

Anonymous wrote:Op how did your identity get stolen twice ? Just curious.

Absolutely no idea. The first time I think an acquaintance stole it and sold/gave my info to someone else but I have no proof. I didn't even know it had happened the second time until I got a letter from the IRS saying I hadn't paid taxes on my $10,000 income from some company I'd never heard of. And I have the like, triple advantage identity security thing for credit monitoring too, but nothing ever registered on their tracking system :-/

Op how did your identity get stolen twice ? Just curious.

Anonymous wrote:No, by law they don't issue a w-2 or 1099 if the amount paid is below the legal threshold. The sitter, in that case, is solely responsible for declaring and paying the taxes.

OP here, and although I'm sure this won't satisfy you I do actually declare about 80% of my independent income on my taxes. My best friend is a lawyer and ESPECIALLY concerned with tax fraud so I try to do my part. When churches and corporations and oil companies start paying their fair share you might be able to convince me to declare 100%.

But though my question was really just "why do they need this" (I believe the answer was a tax credit of some kind) - I have my answer. And frankly, as another PP said, if everyone I babysat for wanted my SS# I'd stop babysitting. I've been the victim of identity fraud TWICE (side note: IRS handled it beautifully and I was really lucky it was proven so quickly and didn't collapse my finances in the meantime) and I am just not comfortable giving it out unnecessarily. I didn't even give it to the DMV and they like to pretend you have to!

So at this point I'm only trying to decide if I should respond and say I'm just not comfortable sharing such personal data or if I should just not respond (I'm the nanny who recently had major surgery - I posted some gratitude that my employers are paying me fully during the 8 week recovery period - and this family knows that and gave me a little out by saying if this was a bad time to just ignore their request...tempting).

No, by law they don't issue a w-2 or 1099 if the amount paid is below the legal threshold. The sitter, in that case, is solely responsible for declaring and paying the taxes.

By law wouldn't the employer be required to have even an occasional babysitter fill out paperwork before the job began in order to determine if she is legal to work? Then be required to issue her a W-2?

Why should she pay all the social security/medicare when she by law is not an independent contractor? It sounds like they are paying under the table but then wanting the deduction?