Nanny and Taxes - Aurora,CO

Don't forget, being an independent contractor you can claim many, many items.
If you buy clothes for work, these are deductible. You can claim your mileage to and from work. Any bags, supplies, etc. that you purchase for your job are deductible. Meals you eat while working are deductible.

But, you will have the self-employment tax that will eat up most of these deductions. :( This is why it is important to make these deductions though. You are essentially the employer for yourself. So, you are getting to claim all the things that most businesses claim each year. Make sense?

We own a couple businesses. I've been an independent contractor in the past, and we hire employees and independent contractors. Honestly, many times are contractors come out ahead on taxes at the end of the year. A good CPA is essential though!

You are an independent contractor. You need to save up to 40% for taxes mattering on how much you make. I don't know how much you are being paid so I can't tell you which tax bracket you are in but there are websites for that.

You're only a 1099 if YOU set your schedule.... if they tell you when to be there, when you leave, what days you work then you are a W2 employee and they are responsible for withholding your portion of the taxes as well as their employer matching.

BreedLove out of Texas is a great tax filing service that we used with our nanny. If you go through a Nanny placement service they can hook you up with a family that will pay you legally. I've been a 1099 before... trust me you don't want to be one! VERY expensive on your part.

I can help you with this. I am a tax accountant and my husband owns his own tax accounting firm. Give me a call and I'll walk you through it free of charge ###-###-#### (Kristi). It's not too complicated, but you do have options when it comes to how to handle this.

scroll down here and she has tax forms that can help:
http://www.thedaycarelady.com/form3.htm

she answers some child care tax questions as well
http://stepbystepcc.com/tax.html

talk to your tax advisor as to what you can deduct when being a 1099 independant contract. If you dont, you will pay up to 45% taxes on what you make. You should be able to claim your mileage to and from work, some of your car payments, fuel, cell phone and food if you buy it for the kids. A tax advisor will be able to tell you how MUCH of it you can claim..just MAKE SURE You keep your reciepts (all cell phone bills, car payments and write down your odometer readings to and from) . In the event of an audit, its better to be OVER prepared than caught off guard.
Talk to the people you are nannying for...if they plan on paying you 'under the table' then you technically dont have to claim anything....though that is illegal...but everyone does it...its like waitresses who get cash tips or all those illegals on the border working for farmers.

You need to talk to your bank or an accountant. If you open a small business account they will do the taxes for you. But only deposit the money from your job in to that account or you'll be paying taxes on every penny you deposit. I found that to be the easiest when doing taxes for my child care center. We paid taxes every quarter and it was much easier than paying at the end of the year in one lump sum.

We also made a 30 minute appointment with an accountant to set up payroll stuff but I still think one might be able to give you good solid legal advice about your tax responsibility.

If you are married and your husband works you can just file your income on your income tax forms. His taxes held out, if you usually get a refund, should cover any money you made.