Publication 926: Household Employer's Tax Guide; Introductory Material

This is archived information that pertains only to the 2004 Tax Year. If you
are looking for information for the current tax year, go to the Tax Prep Help Area.

Table of Contents

Important Reminders

Social security and Medicare wage threshold is $1,400. The social security and Medicare wage threshold is $1,400 for 2005. This means that if you pay a household employee cash wages of less than $1,400 in 2005, you do not have to report and pay social security and Medicare taxes on that employee's 2005 wages. For more information, see Social security and Medicare wages under Social Security and Medicare Taxes on page 3.

Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

Introduction

The information in this publication applies to you only if you have a household employee. If you have a household employee in 2005, you may need to pay state and federal employment taxes for 2005. You generally must add your federal employment taxes to the income tax that you will report on your 2005 federal income tax return.

This publication will help you decide whether you have a household employee and, if you do, whether you need to pay federal employment taxes (social security tax, Medicare tax, federal unemployment tax, and federal income tax withholding). It explains how to figure, pay, and report these taxes for your household employee. It also explains what records you need to keep.

This publication also tells you where to find out whether you need to pay state unemployment tax for your household employee.

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Internal Revenue Service
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