As a babysitter, do you pay taxes on payments received by a state reimbursed foster parent?

[xmasbaby0]

Are you babysitting in your home?  If YOU are being paid to babysit, it does not matter where the money is coming from that pays YOU.  Yes, you need to enter your babysitting income on your tax return.  You are self-employed, and you are required to pay federal self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare as well as ordinary income tax.  You might be able to use the Free File software so that you do not have to pay for the expensive Self-Employed software.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/self-employed/help/what-is-the-self-employment-tax/00/25922

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2902389-why-am-i-paying-self-employment-tax

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901340-where-do-i-enter-schedule-c

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2903027-how-do-i-report-income-from-self-employment

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3398950-what-self-employed-expenses-can-i-deduct

If you qualify to use it, there is another full-featured free version of the software:

Try Free File: 

You qualify if your income was $36,000 or less, or $69,000 or less if active duty military, or if you qualify for Earned Income Credit

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program

• https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2026912-how-do-i-switch-to-turbotax-free-file-program

Note:  If you do not qualify to use Free File then you will have to upgrade to Deluxe or higher in the paid versions of the software.   

Online Deluxe $60  State software $50

Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

[Opus 17]

If you babysit in your home, income you receive is taxable to you.  It doesn't matter where the parents got the money.

If you babysit in their home, you are probably their household employee, and you must pay taxes on your income, and they must give you a W-2 and pay household employee tax.  It doesn't matter where they got the money.

If you are a family member of the parents and the new foster child, then anything they pay you is probably not taxable, although that might get tricky if they need to show they are paying someone to qualify for reimbursement.