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How Do You Make Tax Payments?: Household Employer Taxes (2026 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “How Do You Make Tax Payments?” within household employer taxes. The following material presents the IRS treatment of this topic, including the qualifications, exceptions, and examples in the source section. Read the rules alongside the facts of your own situation before deciding what to report, deduct, or document.

Adapted from Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide, published by the Internal Revenue Service. This guide retains the source edition’s years, amounts, deadlines, and examples. It is guidance for that edition, not a statement that the same figures apply to every tax year.

How Do You Make Tax Payments?

When you file your 2026 federal income tax return in 2027, attach Schedule H (Form 1040) to your Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-SS, 1040-NR, or 1041. Use Schedule H to figure your total household employment taxes (social security, Medicare, FUTA, and withheld federal income taxes). Add these household employment taxes to your income tax. The IRS recommends paying electronically whenever possible. Go to IRS.gov/Pay to see all your payment options. Pay the amount due by April 15, 2027. For more information about using Schedule H, see Schedule H under What Forms Must You File, later.

You can avoid owing tax with your return if you pay enough tax during the year to cover your household employment taxes, as well as your income tax. You can pay the additional tax in any of the following ways.

  • Ask your employer to withhold more federal income tax from your wages in 2026.

  • Ask the payer of your pension or annuity to withhold more federal income tax from your benefits.

  • Make estimated tax payments for 2026 to the IRS.

  • Increase your payments if you already make estimated tax payments.

Caution:

You may be subject to the estimated tax underpayment penalty if you didn’t pay enough income and household employment taxes during the year. (See Pub. 505 for information about the underpayment penalty.) However, you won’t be subject to the penalty if both of the following situations apply to you.

  • You won’t have federal income tax withheld from wages, pensions, or any other payments you receive.

  • Your income taxes, excluding your household employment taxes, wouldn’t be enough to require payment of estimated taxes.

Asking for more federal income tax withholding.

If you’re employed and want more federal income tax withheld from your wages to cover your household employment taxes, give your employer a new Form W-4. Complete Form W-4 and show the additional amount you want withheld from each paycheck on the appropriate line of Form W-4.

If you receive a pension or annuity and want more federal income tax withheld to cover household employment taxes, give the payer a new Form W-4P (or a similar form provided by the payer). Complete Form W-4P and show the additional amount you want withheld from each benefit payment on the appropriate line of Form W-4P.

See Pub. 505 to make sure you will have the right amount withheld. It will help you compare your total expected withholding for 2026 with the combined income tax and employment taxes that you can expect to figure on your 2026 tax return. You may also use the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator available at IRS.gov/W4app to estimate the amount of your federal income taxes.

Paying estimated tax.

If you want to make estimated tax payments to cover household employment taxes, get Form 1040-ES. You can use its payment vouchers to make your payments by check or money order. The IRS recommends paying your estimated tax payments electronically whenever possible. For details, see the form instructions or go to IRS.gov/Pay.

You can pay all the employment taxes at once or you can pay them in installments. If you have already made some estimated tax payments for 2026, you should increase your remaining payments to cover the employment taxes. Estimated tax payments for 2026 are due April 15, June 15, and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.

Payment option for business employers.

If you own a business or a farm operated for profit, you can choose either of two ways to pay your 2026 household employment taxes. You can pay them with your federal income tax as previously described, or you can include them with your federal employment tax deposits or other payments for your business or farm employees. For information on depositing employment taxes, see section 11 of Pub. 15.

If you pay your household employment taxes with your business or farm employment taxes, you must report your household employment taxes with those other employment taxes on Form 941, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return; Form 944, Employer’s ANNUAL Federal Tax Return; or Form 943, Employer’s Annual Federal Tax Return for Agricultural Employees, and Form 940, Employer’s Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return. See Business employment tax returns, later.

Caution:

The deduction that can be taken on Schedules C and F (Form 1040) for wages and employment taxes applies only to wages and taxes paid for business and farm employees. You can’t deduct the wages and employment taxes paid for your household employees on your Schedule C or F.

More information.

For more information about paying taxes through federal income tax withholding and estimated tax payments, and figuring the estimated tax penalty, see Pub. 505.

Using the guidance

Keep the documents that establish the dates, amounts, and circumstances described above. References to other chapters, forms, worksheets, or earlier and later sections refer to the linked IRS publication. Check the full publication and its updates before relying on a rule for a different tax year or a situation not addressed here.

Sources and further reading

The cited U.S. government text is in the public domain. Source accessed October 28, 2026. Fynoptic has organized this material for educational use and is independent of, and not endorsed by, the IRS.

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