Do I have to pay taxes on a babysitter?
Updated November 6, 2026 · For 2026 · General information, not tax or legal advice
Most babysitting never reaches the tax rules because of two exemptions: the dollar threshold and the under-18 rule.
The $3,000 threshold
Taxes apply only once you pay a sitter $3,000 or more in 2026. A sitter at $20 an hour would need 150 hours in the year, about three hours a week. Date-night and occasional sitters stay well under it. If you do cross it, the sitter is a household employee for the whole year and the usual rules apply: 7.65% withholding and match, unemployment tax, a W-2 and Schedule H.
The under-18 exemption
Wages to a household employee who is under 18 at any point during the year are exempt from Social Security and Medicare if household work is not their principal occupation. A high school student babysitting after school qualifies; a 17-year-old who has left school and works for you full-time does not. The exemption is for the whole year even if they turn 18 in it.
Unemployment tax is separate: it applies once total household wages hit $1,000 in a quarter regardless of age, though at that level the tax is tiny.
Regular after-school sitters
A college student or adult who picks up the kids three afternoons a week is a nanny for tax purposes once they cross $3,000, usually by spring. Treat them like any part-time employee: withhold from the start, pay at least minimum wage, and issue the W-2. See who is a household employee.
Sitters who work for many families
Working for several families does not make a sitter self-employed. Each family that directs the work is an employer for what it pays. The practical effect is that each family measures its own payments against $3,000, so a sitter earning $10,000 across six families may trigger taxes for none of them.
Keeping records
Note what you paid and when, even for casual sitters, so you know if you are approaching the threshold. If a sitter becomes regular, start payroll in the month you expect to cross it rather than catching up in December. The calculator shows the cost once a sitter is on payroll.
Frequently asked
Do I pay taxes on a teenage babysitter?
Usually not. Wages to a sitter under 18 are exempt from Social Security and Medicare if babysitting is not their principal occupation, which covers nearly every student. Unemployment tax can still apply if you pay $1,000 in a quarter.
Does a date-night sitter count as an employee?
Technically yes, but no taxes are due unless you pay them $3,000 in the year, so occasional sitters never reach the rules.
Does a sitter who works for many families count as self-employed?
Not automatically. Each family that controls the work is an employer for the wages it pays. In practice the per-family $3,000 threshold keeps most multi-family sitters below the tax line.
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