Household Employees

The term, "household employee" refers to a person who works in someone's home performing household duties such as caring for children, cleaning, or cooking. Generally, an employer is not required to provide Form W-2 to a household employee who earned less than $1,700 in a year. In this situation, neither the employer nor the employee will owe social security or Medicare tax on those wages. However, employers who withhold federal income taxes from their employee's wages must issue Form W-2. Regardless of whether Form W-2 is issued, the income must be included on Form 1040, line 7.

For further information and a definition of who is a household employee, see Publication 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide.

For information on how to enter household employee income on the tax return, go to the Volunteer Resource Guide (Tab 2) How/Where to Enter Income.