Social Security & You
By Brandon P. Smith, Social Security Public Affairs Specialist
Do you plan to pay a cleaning person, cook, gardener, babysitter, or other household worker at least $2,300 in 2021? This amount includes any cash you pay for your household employee’s transportation, meals, and housing. If you will pay at least $2,300 to one person, you have some additional financial responsibilities.
When you pay at least $2,300 in wages to a household worker, you must do all of the following:
- Deduct Social Security and Medicare taxes from those wages
- Pay these taxes to the Internal Revenue Service.
- Report the wages to Social Security
For every $2,300 in wages, most household employees earn credits toward Social Security benefits and Medicare coverage. Generally, people need 10 years of work to qualify for:
- Retirement benefits (as early as age 62)
- Disability benefits for the worker and the worker’s dependents
- Survivors benefits for the worker’s family
- Medicare benefits
You can learn more about reporting household worker income by reading Household Workers at www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10021.pdf.
