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Families often hire individuals to care for children and dependents in their home, so family members can work or actively look for work. These individuals include babysitters, caretakers, health aides, nannies, private nurses and au pairs. As employers, family members have additional tax responsibilities for their household employee.

Social Security And Medicare Taxes

Both the employee and employer pay Social Security and Medicare taxes (commonly called FICA). This applies if an employer pays cash wages of $2,100 or more to any one household employee. For FICA, both the employer and the employee pay to the IRS 7.65% of wages paid – 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare taxes. An employer generally must withhold the employee’s share of FICA tax from their wages.

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