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Hire Parent as Household Employee

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
January 3, 2025
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My husband and I are paying his mother to take care of our baby. We both work full time and she lives with us. I’ve read that we do not have to pay social security and medicare in this situation because she is my husband’s parent. However, she is working toward earning her remaining social security credits. Even though the Schedule H (Form 1040) says to not withhold SS and M taxes from a parent, can we do it anyway so that she can earn her SS credits?

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Best answer by Opus 17

You have to file based on the facts, you can't change the paperwork to fit the facts you wish were in place.

Whether she is an independent contractor or employee is determined by the facts of your relationship, primarily who has control over the time, place and manner that the work is performed. A really independent day care provider can take more than one child, can choose which children to take, and can cancel service (subject to any contract). I think we can boil it down to a simple question: Could his mother decide to not care for your child, and instead open an in-home day care for other children in her home? If not, then she's not independent.

If she took in additional children from the neighborhood, she could be an employee with respect to you and a contractor with respect to them. Or there are other side jobs she can maybe do to get SS credits. But not with the way things are now.

A

AmeliesUncle

No, you can not voluntarily pay FICA for her. Sorry.

As a side note, if her husband (current, former or deceased) had paid in to Social Security, she could possibly qualify for Social Security under some of the spousal programs.

J

Jmr13Author

Thanks for this info. Since we all live together, would it make sense for her to file a 1099 as an independent contractor since she is technically providing care in her own residence? Then she can pay SS and MCR taxes.

A

AmeliesUncle

She isn't an independent contractor. She can't claim that just because she wants to pay into the Social Security system.

O

Opus 17Answer

Employee

You have to file based on the facts, you can't change the paperwork to fit the facts you wish were in place.

Whether she is an independent contractor or employee is determined by the facts of your relationship, primarily who has control over the time, place and manner that the work is performed. A really independent day care provider can take more than one child, can choose which children to take, and can cancel service (subject to any contract). I think we can boil it down to a simple question: Could his mother decide to not care for your child, and instead open an in-home day care for other children in her home? If not, then she's not independent.

If she took in additional children from the neighborhood, she could be an employee with respect to you and a contractor with respect to them. Or there are other side jobs she can maybe do to get SS credits. But not with the way things are now.