Schedule-H / 1040-ES Confusion

[jcleary47]

I've seen a few threads regarding this, but I'm still a tad confused.

I use a payroll service, and they sent quarterly tax payments (1040-ES) on my behalf in 2020.

They also generate and send other forms on my behalf (W2's, W3, 940, etc.).

So my question is, if I enter in the quarterly payments from the 1040-ES in Turbo Tax as estimated payments, do I need to counter this by also filling out Schedule H? Or do I only fill in the Schedule H data in Turbo Tax if I did NOT make any estimated tax payments (1040-ES) during the year?

I've seen conflicting information on this, but my understanding is I input the Schedule H which creates the tax liability for taxes owed for my household employee, but then filling out the 1040-ES data essentially cancels that out.

I can't imagine only filling out the estimated tax payments is the way to do it, because I'm essentially getting credited for taxes that I ultimately owed and paid... I don't know.

[jcleary47]

Also, to add on - part of the reason I don't think I need to also submit Schedule H is because my payroll service submits form 941 on my behalf with the 1040-ES payments:

"A common mistake that household employers make is reporting their payroll twice. This happens when both Schedule H and Form 941 are filed in the same year. Many business owners file Form 941 quarterly and report wages there. Then, when tax season rolls around they apply these same figures to Schedule H and, therefore, pay the employment tax twice.

Be careful not to make this mistake and avoid paying too much or becoming subject to an IRS investigation to resolve the issue."

[gloriah5200]

If your household help's pay is included in the payroll services you already have prepared regularly by your payroll services and the household help aleady receives a W2 and both employer and employee's portions of social security and medicare taxes are already withheld and paid/deposited, then you do not also need to prepare Sch H in your individual return.