Social Security and Medicare Taxes: Household Employer Taxes (2026 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “Social Security and Medicare Taxes” 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.

Context for these rules

If you have a household employee, you may need to withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes, pay FUTA tax, or both. To find out, read Table 1.

You don’t need to withhold federal income tax from your household employee’s wages. But if your employee asks you to withhold it, you can. See Do You Need To Withhold Federal Income Tax, later.

If you need to pay social security, Medicare, or FUTA tax or choose to withhold federal income tax, read Table 2 for an overview of what you may need to do.

Social Security and Medicare Taxes

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) provides for a federal system of old-age, survivors, disability, and hospital insurance. The old-age, survivors, and disability insurance part is financed by the social security tax. The hospital insurance part is financed by the Medicare tax. Each of these taxes is reported separately.

Both you and your household employee may owe social security and Medicare taxes. Your share is 7.65% (6.2% for social security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax) of the employee’s social security and Medicare wages. Your employee’s share is also 7.65% (6.2% for social security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax). In addition to withholding Medicare tax at 1.45%, you must withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. You’re required to begin withholding Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which you pay wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each pay period until the end of the calendar year. Additional Medicare Tax is only imposed on the employee. There is no employer share of Additional Medicare Tax. All wages that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding if paid in excess of the $200,000 withholding threshold. For more information on Additional Medicare Tax, go to IRS.gov/ADMT.

Tip:

Generally, you can use Table 3 to figure the amount of social security and Medicare taxes to withhold from each wage payment.

You’re responsible for payment of your employee’s share of the taxes as well as your own. You can either withhold your employee’s share from the employee’s wages or pay it from your own funds. If you decide to pay the employee’s share from your own funds, see Not withholding the employee’s share, later. Pay the taxes as discussed under How Do You Make Tax Payments, later. Also see What Forms Must You File, later.

Social security and Medicare wages.

You figure social security and Medicare taxes on the social security and Medicare wages you pay your employee.

If you pay your household employee cash wages of $3,000 or more in 2026, all cash wages you pay to that employee in 2026 (regardless of when the wages were earned) up to $184,500 are social security wages and all cash wages are Medicare wages. However, any noncash wages you pay don’t count as social security and Medicare wages.

If you pay the employee less than $3,000 in cash wages in 2026, none of the wages you pay the employee are social security or Medicare wages and neither you nor your employee will owe social security or Medicare tax on those wages.

Cash wages.

Cash wages include wages you pay by check, money order, etc. Cash wages don’t include the value of food, lodging, clothing, transit passes, and other noncash items you give your household employee. However, cash you give your employee in place of these items is included in cash wages.

Noncash wages paid to household employees aren’t subject to social security or Medicare taxes; however, they are subject to federal income tax unless a specific exclusion applies. Report the value of taxable noncash wages in box 1 of Form W-2 (box 7 of Form 499R-2/W-2PR) together with cash wages. Don’t show noncash wages in box 3 or in box 5 of Form W-2 (boxes 20 and 22 of Form 499R-2/W-2PR). See Do You Need To Withhold Federal Income Tax, later. Also, see section 5 of Pub. 15 for more information on cash and noncash wages, and Pub. 15-B for more information on fringe benefits.

State disability payments treated as wages.

Certain state disability plan payments that your household employee may receive are treated as social security and Medicare wages. For more information about these payments, see the Instructions for Schedule H (Form 1040) and the notice issued by the state.

Wages not counted.

Don’t count wages you pay to any of the following individuals as social security or Medicare wages, even if these wages are $3,000 or more during the year.

1. Your spouse.

2. Your child who is under the age of 21.

3. Your parent. Exception: Count these wages if both the following conditions apply.

   1. Your parent cares for your child (including an adopted child or stepchild) who is either of the following.

      1. Under the age of 18.

      2. Has a physical or mental condition that requires the personal care of an adult for at least 4 continuous weeks in the calendar quarter services were performed.

   2. Your marital status is one of the following.

      1. You’re divorced and haven’t remarried.

      2. You’re a widow or widower.

      3. You’re living with a spouse whose physical or mental condition prevents them from caring for your child for at least 4 continuous weeks in the calendar quarter services were performed.

4. An employee who is under the age of 18 at any time during the year. Exception: Count these wages if providing household services is the employee’s principal occupation. If the employee is a student, providing household services isn’t considered to be their principal occupation.

Also, if your employee’s cash wages reach $184,500 (maximum wages subject to social security tax) in 2026, don’t count any wages you pay that employee during the rest of the year as social security wages to figure social security tax. Continue to count the employee’s cash wages as Medicare wages to figure Medicare tax.

Transportation (commuting) benefits.

If you reimburse your employee for qualified parking, transportation in a commuter highway vehicle, or transit passes, you may be able to exclude the cash reimbursement amounts from counting as cash wages subject to social security and Medicare taxes. Qualified parking is parking at or near your home or at or near a location from which your employee commutes to your home. It doesn’t include parking at or near your employee’s home. For 2026, you can reimburse your employee up to $340 per month for qualified parking and $340 per month for combined commuter highway vehicle transportation and transit passes. See Transportation (Commuting) Benefits in section 2 of Pub. 15-B for more information. Any cash reimbursement over these amounts is included as wages.

Qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement eliminated.

Section 11047 of P.L. 115-97 suspended the exclusion of qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements from your employee’s income for any tax year beginning after 2017 and before 2026. For tax years beginning after 2025, P.L. 119-21 permanently eliminates the exclusion of qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements from your employee’s income.

Withholding the employee’s share.

You should withhold the employee’s share of social security and Medicare taxes if you expect to pay your household employee cash wages of $3,000 or more in 2026. However, if you prefer to pay the employee’s share yourself, see Not withholding the employee’s share, later.

You can withhold the employee’s share of the taxes even if you’re not sure your employee’s cash wages will be $3,000 or more in 2026. If you withhold the taxes but then actually pay the employee less than $3,000 in cash wages for the year, you should repay the employee. Don’t report withheld taxes that you repaid to the employee on Form W-2.

Withhold 7.65% (6.2% for social security tax and 1.45% for Medicare tax) from each payment of social security and Medicare wages. Generally, you can use Table 3 to figure the proper amount to withhold. You will pay the amount withheld to the IRS with your share of the taxes. Don’t withhold any social security tax after your employee’s social security wages for the year reach $184,500.

If you make an error by withholding too little, you should withhold additional taxes from a later payment. If you withhold too much, you should repay the employee.

Note:

Employers located in Puerto Rico, see the Instructions for Form W-3 (PR).

Caution:

In addition to withholding Medicare tax at 1.45%, you must withhold a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax from wages you pay to an employee in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year. You’re required to begin withholding Additional Medicare Tax in the pay period in which you pay wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each pay period until the end of the calendar year. Additional Medicare Tax is only imposed on the employee. There is no employer share of Additional Medicare Tax. All wages that are subject to Medicare tax are subject to Additional Medicare Tax withholding if paid in excess of the $200,000 withholding threshold. For more information on Additional Medicare Tax, go to IRS.gov/ADMT.

Example.

On January 31, 2026, Mary Brown hired Jane A. Oak (who is an unrelated individual over age 18) to care for Mary’s child and agreed to pay cash wages of $70 every Friday. Jane worked for the remainder of the year (a total of 48 weeks). Jane didn’t give Mary a Form W-4 to request federal income tax withholding. The following is the information Mary will need to complete Schedule H (Form 1040), Form W-2, and Form W-3.

For information on withholding and reporting federal income taxes, see Pub. 15 and Pub. 15-T.

Not withholding the employee’s share.

If you prefer to pay your employee’s social security and Medicare taxes from your own funds, don’t withhold them from your employee’s wages. The social security and Medicare taxes you pay to cover your employee’s share must be included in the employee’s wages for income tax purposes. However, they aren’t counted as social security and Medicare wages or as FUTA wages. Report the social security and Medicare taxes that you paid in boxes 4 and 6 of your employee’s Form W-2 (boxes 21 and 23 of Form 499R-2/W-2PR). Also, add the taxes to your employee’s wages reported in box 1 of Form W-2 (box 7 of Form 499R-2/W-2PR).

Example.

In 2026, you hire a household employee (who is an unrelated individual over age 18) to care for your child and agree to pay cash wages of $100 every Friday. You expect to pay your employee $3,000 or more for the year. You decide to pay your employee’s share of social security and Medicare taxes from your own funds. You pay your employee $100 every Friday without withholding any social security or Medicare taxes.

For social security and Medicare tax purposes, your employee’s wages each payday are $100. For each wage payment, you will pay $15.30 when you pay the taxes. This is $7.65 ($6.20 for social security tax plus $1.45 for Medicare tax) to cover your employee’s share plus $7.65 ($6.20 for social security tax plus $1.45 for Medicare tax) for your share. For income tax purposes, your employee’s wages each payday are $107.65 ($100 + the $7.65 you will pay to cover your employee’s share of social security and Medicare taxes).

Table 3. Employee Social Security (6.2%) and Medicare (1.45%¹) Tax Withholding Table

• (See Pub. 15-T for federal income tax withholding tables.)

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

• Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide: Do You Need To Pay Employment Taxes? — Social Security and Medicare Taxes — Internal Revenue Service; 2026 edition.

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.