We paid a babysitter that is 14. Can we claim that under child care and do we need to have her social security number if she is only 14?

[Carl]

In order to claim it, the babysitter also has to report what you paid them as business income and pay taxes on that income. You will also need to have the babysitter's SSN or EIN. Personally, I would not put a 14 year old through this hassle it will create for them. But then, if it's a substantial amount, and it has a substantial effect on my tax liability, I might want to claim it regardless.

[macuser_22]

If the baby sitting took place in the parents home then the sitter would probably be a household employee (W-2 employee) and not need to file a tax return if the total earned income for the year was less than $6,300.    A W-2 would not be necessary for payments less that $2,000 and does not count at all for the employment tax for an employee under the age of 18.

More than likely the 14 year old would not need to file a tax return or report this income at all if under the filing limits for depenndents.

See IRS Pub 926 for reference.
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p926/ar02.html#en_US_2017_publink100086732">https://www.irs.gov/pub...>

[nyc tax cpa]

per schedule H instructions:

Line A. To figure the total cash wages you paid in 2019 to each household employee, don't include amounts paid to any of the following individuals.
• Your spouse.
• Your child who was under age 21.
• Your parent. (See Exception for parents below.)
• Your employee who was under age 18 at any time during
2019. If the employee wasn't a student, see Exception for employees under age 18 below. 

Please check with your state re: unemployment insurance/worker's comp/disability requirements.