Nanny Tax DeskTaxes on a home caregiver for 2026
A caregiver you hire directly, and whose work your family directs, is usually a household employee, with the same $3,000 line as a nanny. On $40,000 of pay that is about $3,102 in employer taxes, and $3,060 held back from pay. A caregiver sent and paid by an agency is usually the agency's employee.
General information from IRS Publication 926, not tax advice. Check with a tax professional for your household.
A caregiver paid $40,000
- Your halfSocial Security $2,480 and Medicare $580.
- Federal unemployment$42.
- Held back$3,060 from the caregiver's pay over the year, or paid by you.
- Who is the employerThe person who controls what work is done and how. When a parent hires and directs their own caregiver and pays from their own money, the parent is usually the employer and files Schedule H.
General information from IRS Publication 926 (2026), not tax advice. Check with a tax professional for your household.
Questions people ask next
I pay a relative to care for my parent. Does it count?
Pay to your spouse and your child under 21 is left out, and pay to your parent in most cases. Other relatives, such as a sibling or a grown child caring for a grandparent, are counted like anyone else.
What about an agency caregiver?
If the agency chooses the worker, sets the terms and pays them, the agency is the employer and you owe no household employment taxes.
Does a private nurse count?
A private nurse you hire directly for care in your home is on the IRS's list of possible household employees.
Can a caregiver's pay be a medical expense?
Some long-term care costs count as medical expenses on Schedule A. Check the IRS's rules for your case with a tax professional.