Nanny tax calculator for 2026
Drop a year of paychecks. Nannytally works out social security, Medicare and FUTA for your nanny, the Schedule H lines and the W-2 boxes, in your browser.
Who owes nanny tax
From IRS Publication 926: if you pay one household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026 ($2,800 in 2025), you owe social security and Medicare on all of that person's cash wages — 15.3% in total, half of which you can withhold from their pay. If you pay $1,000 or more in cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter, you also owe federal unemployment tax (FUTA).
A worked example
A nanny paid $800 every Friday in 2026, with the employee's share withheld:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Cash wages (52 paychecks) | $41,600.00 |
| Schedule H line 2 — social security tax (12.4%) | $5,158.40 |
| Schedule H line 4 — Medicare tax (2.9%) | $1,206.40 |
| FUTA (0.6% of the first $7,000) | $42.00 |
| Total household employment taxes | $6,406.80 |
| Of which withheld from the nanny's pay (7.65%) | $3,182.40 |
| W-2 box 3 / box 5 | $41,600.00 / $41,600.00 |
The nanny's take-home after the 7.65% withholding is $38,417.60. You report the total on Schedule H with your Form 1040 by April 15, 2027.
What you get
- Schedule H lines 1–8: social security and Medicare wages and tax, Additional Medicare and federal income tax withheld, plus FUTA when the $1,000-a-quarter test is met.
- W-2 boxes 1–6 per employee, ready to type into the SSA's free Business Services Online W-2 form.
- Checks: who is under or near the $3,000 threshold, exempt workers, duplicates, negative rows, other-year rows and the deadlines.
- Quarter totals for the FUTA test and estimated payments.
Files it reads
A CSV or Excel file with one row per paycheck: employee, pay date and gross cash pay. Optional: noncash wages (meals, lodging you count as wages), federal income tax withheld, and an exempt column (spouse, parent, child under 21, under 18). A spreadsheet, a bank or Venmo export cleaned up in Excel, or the template on this page all work.
Your pay records stay on your computer
Nannytally reads your file with JavaScript in this browser tab. Names and pay are never uploaded, and closing the tab clears them. It never asks for a Social Security number.
How it works
- Drop your pay log (CSV or Excel, one row per paycheck) — or try the sample, or download the template.
- Pick the tax year and whether you withheld the employee's 7.65% or paid it yourself.
- Read the checks, then copy the numbers into Schedule H and each W-2. With Pro, get every employee's W-2 boxes, the paycheck ledger and the Excel workbook.
FAQ
What does Nannytally do?
It reads a year of paychecks to household employees and works out the federal nanny tax numbers: social security and Medicare (FICA), Additional Medicare, federal income tax withheld and FUTA for Schedule H (Form 1040), and boxes 1–6 of each employee's Form W-2. It doesn't run payroll, pay anyone or file anything.
Is my data uploaded?
No. Your file is read by JavaScript in your browser tab and never sent to us or anyone else. Names and pay aren't stored, so closing the tab clears them. Settings can be saved in this browser.
Do I owe nanny taxes?
For 2026, if you pay one household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages, social security and Medicare are due on all of that person's cash wages (it was $2,800 for 2025). If you pay $1,000 or more in cash wages to household employees in any calendar quarter of 2025 or 2026, you also owe FUTA. Wages to your spouse, your parent, your child under 21 or an employee under 18 (unless household work is their main job) are exempt from social security and Medicare.
What are the rates?
Social security is 6.2% from the employee and 6.2% from you on wages up to $184,500 in 2026; Medicare is 1.45% each with no limit, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare withheld from the employee on wages over $200,000. FUTA is 0.6% of the first $7,000 per employee if you paid your state unemployment tax on time and your state has no credit reduction.
Which files can I use?
CSV, tab-separated or Excel with one row per paycheck: employee, pay date and gross cash pay. Noncash wages, federal income tax withheld and an exempt column are optional. Download the template to see the layout.
What's free?
Importing any number of paychecks, the Schedule H totals, the quarter totals and every check, plus W-2 boxes for one employee on screen and in print (with a footer). Pro shows and prints every employee's W-2 boxes without the footer and exports the W-2 CSV, the paycheck ledger and the Excel workbook.
What isn't covered?
State income tax withholding, state unemployment tax and state new-hire reporting, getting an EIN, filing W-2s or Schedule H for you, and business employers (who use Form 941 and 940 instead). Names, SSNs and addresses go on the real forms — Nannytally never asks for an SSN.
Is this tax advice?
No. Nannytally applies IRS Publication 926 and the Schedule H instructions to the data you provide. Ask your tax adviser what applies to your household.