January 29, 2010
Question of the Week: How Do I Know If Someone Is a Household Employee?
Filed under: News
Vision Payroll

This week’s question comes from John, a homeowner. I read about the need for household employers to file Schedule H. I own a home and hire people to do work there, but am not sure if I need to file Schedule H. How do I know if someone is a household employee? Answer: According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), “If you hired someone to do household work and you were able to control what work he or she did and how he or she did it, you had a household employee. This is true even if you gave the employee freedom of action. What matters is that you had the right to control the details of how the work was done.” The IRS also lists the following types of workers who commonly do household work:

  • Babysitters
  • Caretakers
  • Cleaning People
  • Drivers
  • Health Aides
  • Housekeepers
  • Nannies
  • Private Nurses
  • Yard Workers

Furthermore, “[i]f a worker is your employee, it does not matter whether the work is full or part-time or that you hired the worker through an agency or from a list provided by an agency or association. Also, it does not matter if the wages paid are for work done hourly, daily, weekly, or by the job.”

Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide contains further information. Consult Publication 926 or contact Vision Payroll if you have further questions.

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