@Pj8 One additional thought.
You say baby sitting in their home. The house cleaning, obviously, is also in the client's home.
The “Nanny Tax” specifically refers to the social security tax paid on a household employee’s (nanny, maid, house cleaning, baby sitter, gardener etc.) wages. The most proper way to report your income would have been for your employer to have given you a W-2. In practice, this is seldom done. That having not been done, the 2nd best choice is USUALLY for you to report it as self employment income on schedule C, paying your own social security tax ( “self employment” tax) on schedule SE, as previously described.
But, if the Household employee wages were from more than one employer and no single employer paid your more than $2100, you may be able to avoid the self employment tax and get the full $1202 in refundable credits. But, you will also not get credit for these wages with the Social Security Administration, for future benefits.
In TurboTax, enter at:
Federal Taxes
Click on Wages and Income
Scroll down to Less Common Income
On Miscellaneous Income, 1099-A, 1099-C click the start button
On the next screen click the start button on Other Income not already reported on Form W-2 or Form 1099
Answer Yes on the next screen and continue the interview until it completes.
TurboTax puts the amount on line 1 (wages) of form 1040 with the notation “HSH”. It is considered earned income. But, this technique is more likely to invite IRS scutiny, than reporting it as self employment.
