Nanny Tax DeskNanny tax calculator for 2026
Type what you paid your nanny. See what you owe, what to hold back, and when to file.
Your state's rate and wage base are on the notice it sent when you registered. Leave them empty to see federal only.
General information from IRS Publication 926, not tax advice. Check with a tax professional for your household.
How the numbers are worked out
- Social Security and MedicareOnce you pay one worker $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, you owe 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on all of it, and so does your worker. Social Security stops at $184,500 of wages.
- Federal unemploymentIf you paid $1,000 or more in household wages in any quarter of 2025 or 2026, you owe 0.6% of the first $7,000 per worker, after the usual credit for paying your state on time. You pay all of it; nothing comes out of pay.
- State unemploymentYour rate times pay, up to your state's wage base. Each state sets both, and its own threshold.
- If you pay the worker's half yourselfThat amount counts as more wages for income tax, so it goes in box 1 of the W-2, but not in the Social Security and Medicare boxes.
What this leaves out. Federal income tax withholding is optional for household workers unless you both agree to it. Pay to your spouse, your child under 21, or a worker under 18 who is a student is usually not taxed this way. A few states' employers pay more FUTA when their state owes the federal fund; the IRS names those states each November. State disability and paid leave programs are not counted here.
General information from IRS Publication 926 (2026), not tax advice. Check with a tax professional for your household.
Paid a payroll service this year?
How your service paid decides whether you file Schedule H at all. Families who file it after a service already reported the taxes can pay twice. The year-end page has the IRS's rule for each case and the one question to ask your service.