Do you plan to pay a cleaning person, cook, gardener, babysitter or other household worker at least $2,300 in 2021? This amount includes any cash you pay for your household employee’s transportation, meals and housing. If you will pay at least $2,300 to one person, you have some additional financial responsibilities and you must: Deduct Social Security and Medicare taxes from those wages; pay these taxes to the Internal Revenue Servicep report the wages to Social Security.
For every $2,300 in wages, most household employees earn credits toward Social Security benefits and Medicare coverage. Generally, people need 10 years of work to qualify for retirement benefits (as early as age 62); disability benefits for the worker and the worker’s dependents; survivor benefits for the worker’s family; Medicare benefits.
You can learn more about reporting household worker income by reading “Household Workers” at http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10021.pdf.
