Per Diem Rates from the U.S. General Services Administration
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Rates are set by fiscal year, effective October 1 each year. Find current rates in the continental United States ("CONUS Rates").
Household Employment Taxes
Forms that Household Employers Need to Complete
- Schedule H (Form 1040) for figuring your household employment taxes.
- Form W-2 (or Form 499R-2/W-2PR for employers in Puerto Rico) for reporting wages paid to your employees. References to Form W-2 also apply to Form 499R-2/W-2PR unless otherwise specified.
- Form W-3 (or Form W-3 (PR) for filers in Puerto Rico) for sending Copy A of Form(s) W-2 to the Social Security Administration (SSA).
For more information, see Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.
When You Need to Pay Household Employment Taxes
If you have a household employee, you need to withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes if you paid cash wages of $2,600 or more in 2023 to any one household employee. You need to pay federal unemployment tax if you paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2022 or 2023 to household employees. See Part II, Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax instructions for more information.
How to file Schedule H
File Schedule H with your Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1040-SS, or 1041. If you're not filing a 2023 tax return, file Schedule H by itself. You pay both income and employment taxes to the United States Treasury when you file Schedule H with your return. Taxpayers in Puerto Rico pay their income tax to the Department of the Treasury, Government of Puerto Rico.
When to pay?
Most filers must pay their tax by April 15, 2024.
How many copies of Form W-3 do I send to the SSA?
Send one copy of Form W-3 with Copy A of Form(s) W-2 to the SSA, and keep one copy of Form W-3 for your records.
Depending on the amount of wages you pay in any calendar quarter, you may also have to pay Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax. The employee does not pay FUTA tax, it is an employer-paid tax only.
If you must pay FICA taxes, you will need to issue a W-2 form to your household employee and a W-3 form to transmit the W-2 to the Social Security Administration.
When a Worker is Your Employee
A worker is your employee if you can control not only what work is done, but how it is done.
If the worker is classified as your employee, it doesn't matter whether the work is full time or part time or that you hired the worker through an agency or from a list provided by an agency or association. It also doesn't matter whether you pay the worker on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis, or by the job.
Example:
You hire a babysitter to take care of your child while you're at work. The sitter comes to your home five days a week. She follows your specific instructions regarding the care of your child. You provide all supplies for the sitter to do her work. The babysitter is your employee.
Examples of household workers:
- Babysitters
- Caretakers
- Domestic workers
- Drivers
- Health aides
- House cleaning workers
- Housekeepers
- Maids
- Nannies
- Private nurses
- Yard workers
If a babysitter performs child care services for you in her own home and not your home, the sitter is generally not classified as an employee and, therefore, you're not responsible for the worker's employment taxes; self-employed persons are responsible for their own taxes.
If an agency provides a worker and controls what work is done and how it is done, the worker is not your employee.
Example:
You hire Hilda to care for your child. You drop your child off at Hilda's home and pick up your child after work. Hilda provides her own supplies and controls how she carries out her child care services. Hilda is not your employee, she is self-employed and responsible for her own taxes.
Example:
You hire Jack to handle your lawn care for your home. Jack runs a lawn care service and offers his services to the general public. He provides his own tools and supplies, and he hires and pays helpers. Neither Jack nor his helpers are your employees.
Schedule H, Household Employment Taxes
Schedule H is used to determine your employment tax liability, which includes Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA taxes. Once you have determined the total amount of your employment tax liability, you simply add the total to your regular income taxes by including it on Form 1040. If you are not filing Form 1040, file Schedule H by itself.
Employment taxes and income taxes are payable to the: United States Treasury on or before the due date for filing Form 1040. If you get an extension to file Form 1040, file Schedule H with your return by the extended due date.