Household-Employer Taxes — 2026 Tax Year
Version 1.0 · Last reviewed July 2026 · Review cadence: Monthly (tax figures: every tax year)
Confirm this live card before relying on any number or rule below. This card changes on a Monthly (tax figures: every tax year) cadence.
Household-employee FICA threshold — $3,000 in cash wages per year (up from $2,800 in 2025)
Social Security tax — 6.2% employee + 6.2% employer, to the $184,500 wage base
Medicare tax — 1.45% each side; +0.9% on employee wages over $200,000
FUTA — Triggered by $1,000 in a quarter; 6.0% on first $7,000 (net 0.6% after state credit)
Federal minimum wage — $7.25/hour (since 7/24/2009; pay the highest of federal, state, local)
Code TT, Box 12 (NEW 2026) — Premium portion of qualified overtime — mandatory on the W-2
KEY FORMS AND DATES
Family: EIN; I-9 and W-4 at hire; W-2 to the nanny by January 31; W-3 to the SSA by January 31; Schedule H with the 1040 by April 15. Nanny: I-9 and W-4 at hire; verify the W-2; file by April 15; quarterly estimated payments (Form 1040-ES) if only FICA is withheld. Verify every figure each tax year — the IRS revises them each November/December.
THE NON-NEGOTIABLES — WHAT THE PROFESSIONAL DOES NOT DO REGARDLESS OF FRAMEWORK
There are practices the professional caregiver does NOT do under any circumstance, including when a family explicitly requests them. These are violations of professional standards and, in some cases, of mandatory reporting law.
No corporal punishment. No spanking, hitting, slapping, swatting, pinching, ear-pulling. The AAP 2018 position is unambiguous.
No verbal shaming or humiliation. No name-calling. No “You’re bad,” “You’re stupid,” “What’s wrong with you.”
No withholding food, water, or bathroom access as discipline.
No isolating a child in a way that compromises safety (locked in a room, left where she could be hurt, sent outside in dangerous weather).
No threatening abandonment. “I’m leaving without you.” “I’ll give you to a stranger.”
If a family asks the caregiver to do any of these, the caregiver declines, explains professionally that the practice is inconsistent with her professional standards and current pediatric guidance, and engages in conversation about alternatives. If the family insists, the role is no longer viable; consult the placement agency or APNA standards. See Unit 7 on mandated reporting for the harder cases.
Every figure on this card is tax-year specific. IRS Publication 926 for the current year controls.