Hellobee Boards Topic: Child Care & " under the table"

Hellobee Boards Topic: Child Care & " under the table" https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 14 Jun 2026 12:23:21 +0000 Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400504 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:55:17 +0000 Dapple Grey 400504@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @mrs. bird: That's an interesting in-between! @Coco Bee: gotcha ! Good to know there are some tax services available!! @Bao: That's another not so frequently thought of perk of being legit! Great point! Bao on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400476 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:40:34 +0000 Bao 400476@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I was a nanny for several years and was always paid under the table, but honestly I think it would have been nice at times to have proof of what I made to get approved for things like an apartment or a car loan. Mrs. Pen on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400475 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:40:02 +0000 Mrs. Pen 400475@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm familiar with it but I also don't want to put my personal experience online either! I have many nanny friends as well and probably 75% of them are under the table. In one instance though, they used a nanny tax service. It was called Breed Love. mrs. bird on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400466 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:37:30 +0000 mrs. bird 400466@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm not going to venture into my personal experience in this, but I'll discuss it generally just as something I'm pretty familiar with as a nanny who knows a lot of other nannies and hears about how they're paid. One option I've seen ppl take who want to pay taxes on their nanny is to pay at minimum wage with taxes removed, but then pay the difference in wages in cash. So for instance if minimum wage is $8.00, then you pay with proper taxes removed for her 40 hours at $8/hr and have that as an auto payment, then pay her each week or biweekly in cash an additional $8/hr without taxes withheld. The nanny keeps more $$, you pay less in taxes, she has a legal income, and they can't prove what you did with that cash so there's no paper trail. Just a thought for those who want to pay above the table or get paid above the table without having as much taken out. allison on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400449 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:32:38 +0000 allison 400449@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Dapple Grey: I don't know how it all works, but in college I was still a dependent on my parents' taxes. I didn't file my own taxes until after they stopped supporting me. Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400446 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:31:04 +0000 Dapple Grey 400446@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Honeybee: Ahh yes thank you..very true that both sides have to uphold agreements if you were to go off the books because errors or fallouts etc, can cause a huge problem! Its definitely a risk because for the most part you don't really know the people, and there are no guarantees ;) Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400438 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:28:09 +0000 Dapple Grey 400438@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @allison: yeah, I have thought the same! Since so many of my expenses are paid online, I feel like having to keep cash , cash would be a bummer. But if it was just fun food, gas, and clothes money I guess it doesn't matter! But then my mind starts wondering, like what if when you were in college or whenever, you parents helped you out each month and you put their money into your account- like how much is too much or what situations are okay and how do you prove it lol Honeybee on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400434 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:27:26 +0000 Honeybee 400434@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Dapple Grey: I don't know exactly, but our accountant mentioned there are multiple things that flag their auditors attention and may get you on the audit list. Things like claiming two incomes but no child care credit, consistent deposits of cash, huge jumps in income/earnings, etc... are likely to get you audited. One of the reasons we were so worried about it, too, is that both parties have to agree and follow through with their part. For example, my sister nannied for a family for a while and was paid under the table. come tax time, they claimed her on their taxes for the child care credit, and she had to go back and pay after the fact because they didn't hold up their end of the deal. On the other hand, when we got rid of our nanny she claimed unemployment. Had we not been paying her taxes, the state would have notified the IRS and we would've ended up with all the back taxes to pay for her whole employment. So like I said, it's a risk, and you just have to be comfortable taking that risk. I know it does work out for a lot of people, though. allison on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400414 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:22:53 +0000 allison 400414@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400403 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:21:02 +0000 Dapple Grey 400403@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @allison: Cash is the bomb, but yeah the worrying kills it! haha! Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400397 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:19:41 +0000 Dapple Grey 400397@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @Honeybee: Interesting! I'm so paranoid about IRS Tax fraud stuff. I'd like to do some nannying myself, but it if its under the table, I always wonder if having constant cash flow in an account but not claiming any income is going to draw too much attention or whatever. I guess it only would be looked into if you were audited? @EBSC: yeah, part time or occasional babysitting I wouldn't be as concerned! allison on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400396 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:19:26 +0000 allison 400396@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I've been a nanny for 3 different families. I've done both W-2 and cash under the table. I'm most comfortable with the W-2 if it's a full-time job because I'm too scared of getting in trouble with the IRS. But the cash-paying job I had was only part-time, and it worked great for us, too. I agree with @duckduckkristen: if you do W-2, you should pay them more to make up for the tax deductions. Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400385 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:16:22 +0000 Dapple Grey 400385@https://boards.hellobee.com/ @duckduckkristen: oh the joys of taxes ;) That stinks! Very true, take home is a big factor in the negotiations process aka pay/get paid more to compensate! Honeybee on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400377 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:14:12 +0000 Honeybee 400377@https://boards.hellobee.com/ We had a nanny and paid her employment taxes on top of her regular wages. Our accountant actually suggested that we steer clear of paying "under the table" because there are a variety of ways this can backfire and you may end up having to backpay taxes anyway. For example, if the IRS audits your taxes (and my MIL works for the IRS, so we get audited often) and you don't claim the child care credit on your taxes or if your nanny applies for unemployment or certain types of assistance, you can be required to pay back taxes for the entire length of employment. Having said that, I know a lot of people who pay "under the table" and it seems to work out for them, so I guess it just depends on how big of a risk you're willing to take. EBSC on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400376 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:13:28 +0000 EBSC 400376@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I'm a part-time nanny, and it's all under the table. Makes my wages higher and less paperwork for all, but if I were full time I think I'd be ok with either way. duckduckkristen on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400359 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:10:21 +0000 duckduckkristen 400359@https://boards.hellobee.com/ I was a nanny and since both parents were lawyers they wanted to do the w-2 thing. However, they paid me crap, so subtract taxes and it sucked even more. It's your choice whether you want to pay them under the table, but know that if you want to go the w-2 route, you'll have to expect to pay them more. Dapple Grey on "Child Care & " under the table"" https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/child-care-amp-under-the-table#post-400338 Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:05:27 +0000 Dapple Grey 400338@https://boards.hellobee.com/ Just curious..... If you have ever employed a nanny or were employed as a nanny, were you a W-2 employee or is/was your childcare provider a W-2 employee under you? It seems like working "under the table" is the unspoken norm.....any thoughts on the matter?