What Is IRS Schedule H? Household Employees, Taxes, and Deadlines

IRS Schedule H is the form household employers attach to their personal Form 1040 to report and pay the Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes owed on wages paid to a nanny, home health aide, housekeeper, or similar in-home worker. It calculates what you owe, adds that amount to your regular income tax bill, and creates the earnings record the Social Security Administration keeps for your employee. You need it once your cash payments to any one worker reach $3,000 in 2026, or once your total household wages hit $1,000 in a single calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026.¹

When You Owe Schedule H Taxes

Two separate dollar thresholds decide whether Schedule H applies to you, and they work independently. You can trip one without the other.

The first is the Social Security and Medicare threshold. For 2026, once you pay a single household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages during the year, you owe FICA taxes on every dollar you paid that worker, not just the amount above $3,000.² Cash wages do not include the value of food, lodging, clothing, or transit passes you provide directly. Hand the worker cash for those things instead, and the cash counts.¹

The second is the FUTA threshold. If your total cash wages to all household employees reach $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026, you owe federal unemployment tax on up to $7,000 of each worker’s wages for the year.³ A worker who is paid steadily and never hits $3,000 individually can still push you over the FUTA line if you employ several people at once.

Who Counts as a Household Employee

Schedule H applies only to employees. A true independent contractor, someone who runs their own business, advertises to multiple clients, brings their own equipment, and controls how the work gets done, is not on Schedule H. If you set the schedule, provide the supplies, and direct the work, you almost certainly have an employee, whatever the two of you have called the arrangement in writing.⁴ Most nannies, aides, and regular housekeepers are employees under this test.

Several people you might pay for household work are exempt from FICA and FUTA even if the dollar thresholds are met:

Your spouse. Wages for household work are fully exempt.¹
Your child under 21.⁵
Your parent, in most situations. A narrow exception makes FICA apply if you have a child under 18 (or one needing adult care due to a condition) living with you and you are single, widowed, or your spouse cannot care for the child due to a mental or physical condition.⁵
A worker under 18 for whom household work is not their principal occupation. A student always passes this test, so a high school babysitter or a college student working over the summer stays exempt regardless of hours.¹

What You’ll Owe

Schedule H rolls three separate taxes into one calculation.

Social Security and Medicare

Social Security tax is 6.2% from you and 6.2% withheld from the employee, applied to the first $184,500 in wages during 2026. Wages above that cap are not subject to Social Security tax.⁶ Medicare tax is 1.45% from each side, with no wage cap.⁷ Combined, that is 7.65% from you and 7.65% from the employee.

You are supposed to withhold the employee’s half from each paycheck. If you choose to cover the employee’s share yourself instead, the IRS treats that extra amount as additional wages subject to income tax, though not to additional FICA.

Federal Unemployment Tax

FUTA is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages, but a credit of up to 5.4% for state unemployment taxes you paid on time cuts the effective rate to 0.6%. That is a maximum of $42 per employee for the year.⁸ Schedule H walks you through the credit calculation and asks for the state payments you made.

Federal Income Tax Withholding

You are not required to withhold federal income tax from a household employee. If the employee asks you to and you agree, the employee fills out a Form W-4 and the withheld amount goes on Schedule H. This is voluntary on both sides. Employees who skip it may face a large tax bill in April.

Paying the Tax During the Year

Schedule H taxes land on your personal 1040, which means they can trigger an underpayment penalty if you wait until April to think about them. Two approaches keep you current.¹

The simplest is to file a new Form W-4 at your own job asking for more federal income tax to be withheld from each paycheck. The extra withholding covers the household employment taxes with no separate payments to track. If your income comes from a pension, Form W-4P does the same job.

The alternative is quarterly estimated tax payments using Form 1040-ES. For the 2026 tax year, payments are due April 15, June 15, and September 15 of 2026, and January 15, 2027. You can pay through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System or mail a check with the voucher.

Filing Deadlines

Schedule H attaches to your Form 1040 or 1040-SR (or, depending on your situation, a 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041) and follows the same April filing deadline as the rest of your return.⁹ Any balance owed is due by that date. Late payment draws interest and a failure-to-pay penalty of 0.5% of the unpaid amount per month, capped at 25%.¹⁰

A second deadline sits earlier in the year. You have to give each household employee a Form W-2 and file copies with the Social Security Administration, along with a transmittal Form W-3. For wages paid in 2026, both the employee copy and the SSA filing are due by February 1, 2027.¹¹ Missing this deadline draws separate penalties from the SSA, and your employee needs the W-2 to file their own return.

What to Set Up Before the First Paycheck

If you have determined you are a household employer, three items need to be in place before, or shortly after, your worker starts.

You need a federal Employer Identification Number, the nine-digit number that identifies you as an employer separately from your Social Security number. The IRS online application at IRS.gov/EIN issues one immediately; Form SS-4 by fax or mail is the paper alternative.¹

You have to complete Form I-9 to verify the employee’s identity and work authorization. Section 2 must be done within three business days of the employee’s first day. You keep the form on file rather than sending it anywhere, and you hold it for one year after employment ends or three years after the hire date, whichever is later.¹²

You also have to report the new hire to your state’s Directory of New Hires. Federal law sets a maximum of 20 days from the hire date, and some states move faster.¹³ The form lives on your state child support enforcement agency’s website. It is easy to overlook because it has nothing to do with taxes, but the requirement applies to household employers the same way it applies to any other employer.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide
2
Social Security Administration. Household Worker – Benefits Planner: Retirement
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 756, Employment Taxes for Household Employees
4
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 762, Independent Contractor vs. Employee
5
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide
6
Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
7
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 759, Form 940 – Employers Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return
9
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Schedule H (2025)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty
11
Internal Revenue Service. 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3
12
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Instructions for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 653a – State Directory of New Hires