Questions on form 4852 and 8919 for working as a household employee out of state without W2
Repost from 'Filing my tax' group
Without W-2, add the nanny income as Common Income→Wage(W-2)→non-standard W2 but do I need to add 2 states info (one for home (NJ), and the other for working (CA)) for state taxes reporting/calculations?
Plus after adding Income→Other Income→Wages not on a W-2 (Form 8919) to report
uncollected Social Security and Medicare taxes, the nanny income is double counted shown on form 1040 line 1a and 1g (wages from Form 8919).
What should I do to correct that?
The HACK I'm thinking is add the non-standard W-2 federal income to be $1 but input correct income for states. Hopefully, this triggers the correct state taxes calculation.
The corrected nanny income will be reported on Other Income→Wages not on a W-2 to trigger generation of Form 8919 with the social security and Medicare taxes calculated correctly and have nanny income populated on Form 1040→Income line 1g.
Please advise and thanks!
Hope I can use below to get CA taxes credit to NJ Site
PS: will Freetaxusa software automatically calculate correctly and generate 2 states returns. Thanks
Answers
-
Hi THL,
In situations where a household employee is not paid with a W-2, you may need to report that as self-employment income on a Schedule C. The Schedule C income will be imported to state returns.
You may want to contact Customer Support while signed in, so a Support Specialist can look at your situation.0 -
Thanks!
From google:
"Nannies must be reported on a Form W-2, not a 1099-NEC, if you paid them cash wages of $2,800 or more in 2025 ($2,700 in 2024). The IRS classifies nannies as household employees, not independent contractors, because families control their work. Using a 1099-NEC for a nanny is generally considered misclassification"
And i also did some research. For special case like grandparent as a caretaker, it seems you don't need to pay Medicare and Social Security taxes. If this is the case, I don't need form 8919 and just report the income in non-standard W-2 entry (from 4852).
Can you confirm that? Thanks!
Ref:
0 -
Additional reference:
Employers generally don't withhold or pay FICA taxes on wages they pay to their spouse, a child under age 21, a parent or an employee under age 18 unless performing household work is their principal occupation. But, they need to report the compensation on a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement.
The question is where to report that using FreeTaxUSA on that income. Any advice?
0 -
Hi THL,
Please reach out to our support team inside your account to determine how best to report this. There are some exceptions that would need to be clarified. I will include a link for you to verify if the exceptions apply to you:
Left column bottom of page 6:
"Wages not counted. Don’t count wages you pay to any of the following individuals as social security or Medicare wages, even if these wages are $3,000 or more during the year:
1. Your spouse.
2. Your child who is under the age of 21.
3. Your parent. Exception: Count these wages if both the following conditions apply.
a. Your parent cares for your child (including an adopted child or stepchild) who is either of the following.
i. Under the age of 18.
ii. Has a physical or mental condition that requires the personal care of an adult for at least
4 continuous weeks in the calendar quarter services were performed.
b. Your marital status is one of the following.
i. You’re divorced and haven’t remarried.
ii. You’re a widow or widower.
iii. You’re living with a spouse whose physical or mental condition prevents them from caring for your child for at least 4 continuous weeks in the calendar quarter services were performed.
4. An employee who is under the age of 18 at any time during the year. Exception: Count these wages if providing household services is the employee’s principal occupation. If the employee is a student, providing household services isn’t considered to be their principal occupation."0
