You asked Hi my wife was a nanny last year she made 20000 dollars honestly I didn’t know what we were doing so now we don’t have a w2 what should I do? how do I file?

[Vanessa]

If your wife was self-employed as a nanny, then you would just need to file a Schedule C and enter her income and expenses. If she was self-employed then you should be tracking her income and expenses and would use your records to enter the information needed. To do this once logged into your return click the following

• Tax Home
• Federal
• Wages and Income
• Scroll down and click Add More income
• See list of all income
• Click Show More next to Self-Employment
• Start next to Self-Employment
• As you walk through the entries you will be prompted to upgrade depending on your entries either while entering income or when it asks you to enter your expenses.

If she is going to continue to be a self-employed nanny, it would be a good idea to use something like Quickbooks Self-Employed to track her income and expenses.  There is a mobile app available and it will even track mileage, allowing her to select what trips are business and what trips are personal or commuting miles. 

[bentley0922]

So this is really helpful, but I think she should have gotten a w2 from the person she was nanny for. He’s a friend of ours but he thought she would be a independent contractor but everywhere I look it’s says she should be an employee. So you think I should still file as a schedule c? Thanks for the help.

[Vanessa]

No, if she should have been an employee, then he will need to correct this, pay Household Employment taxes and issue her a W2.  You will need to discuss this with him to get it resolved.  That would be the easiest way.  If he is not willing to fix it, you can file a form SS-8 which is for the IRS to determine worker status.

Easiest and best thing would be if he corrects it.