Employee living with me

[licketyprint]

I have an employee living in my house.  She does not share household expenses except for food.  Does she need to claim it as some sort of benefit on her income tax? 

[xmasbaby0]

Why would the employee claim living with you as a "benefit?"  Are you entering something on the employee's W-2 about it?  What are you trying to do?

[licketyprint]

My state tax return was just changed by the state to include her income in my household income and I want to make sure that if I contest that she won't have to claim her living arrangement as a benefit.  

[xmasbaby0]

You have not mentioned what state you are in, nor have you mentioned why your employee lives with you.  We do not have enough information about this unusual situation to understand it.  What does your household income have to do with this?  Are you getting some sort of medical insurance or other state benefit that includes the income of all the members of the household? 

[Carl]

If providing your employee a place to live is part of their compensation for working for you, then it's value "should" be included in box 1 of the W-2 you issue to them. Otherwise, their living with you has no relationship to their employment status.

[licketyprint]

I live in Montana. I don't know why they rolled her income in with my household income.  I'm asking them that question but have not gotten a reply.  She is getting medical insurance through the market place.    When I filed my state taxes the state corrected my income to add her income into mine and reduced the amount of my return from $488 to $156.  She lives with me because I can't afford to pay her a huge amount  and I want to help her out to keep her as an employee. 

[xmasbaby0]

@licketyprint Sounds like you need to sort this out with Montana.  It still does not make sense that if she is only an employee that she would enter a "household income" that included your income on her tax return--or wherever she entered it--unless she is really your spouse or GF.  Something is just not "adding up."  Did you claim her as a dependent on your tax return?

[licketyprint]

No, that is why I am so confused.  the only thing I can think of is since we have the same address and work at the same place they took it for granted that we were a household.  I didn't know if that was a common thing the did or not.  I appears that this is an unusual happening.