What Forms Must You File?: Household Employer Taxes (2026 IRS Guide)

This guide covers “What Forms Must You File?” 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.

What Forms Must You File?

You must file certain forms to report your household employee’s wages and the federal employment taxes for the employee if you pay any of the following wages to the employee.

• Social security and Medicare wages.

• FUTA wages.

• Wages from which you withhold federal income tax.

For information on getting employment tax forms, see How To Get Tax Help, later.

Employer identification number (EIN).

You must include your EIN on the forms you file for your household employee. An EIN is a nine-digit number issued by the IRS. It isn’t the same as an SSN.

Tip:

You will ordinarily have an EIN if you previously paid taxes for employees, either as a household employer or as a sole proprietor of a business you own. If you already have an EIN, use that number.

If you don’t have an EIN, you may apply for one online by going to IRS.gov/EIN. You may also apply for an EIN by faxing or mailing Form SS-4 to the IRS. If you are an international applicant, you may apply for an EIN by calling 267-941-1099 (toll call), Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Form W-2.

File a separate 2026 Form W-2 for each household employee to whom you pay either of the following wages during the year.

• Social security and Medicare wages of $3,000 or more.

• Wages from which you withhold federal income tax.

You must complete Form W-2 and give Copies B, C, and 2 to your employee by February 1, 2027. You must also send Copy A of Form W-2 with Form W-3 to the SSA by February 1, 2027. We encourage you to file Form W-2 electronically. Electronic filing is available to all employers and is free, fast, and secure. Go to the SSA’s Employer W-2 Filing Instructions & Information website at SSA.gov/employer for guidelines on filing electronically. If filing electronically via the SSA’s W-2 Online service, the SSA will generate Form W-3 data from the electronic submission of Form(s) W-2; no separate Form W-3 is required.

If you’re not required to file Form W-2, we encourage you to provide your household employee with a receipt for services that includes the dates worked, wages paid, and a general description of work completed. This receipt will help the household employee to report their wages on Form 1040 or 1040-SR.

Employee who leaves during the year.

If an employee stops working for you before the end of 2026, you can file Form W-2 and provide copies to your employee immediately after you make your final payment of wages. You don’t need to wait until 2027. If the employee asks you for Form W-2, give it to them within 30 days after the request or the last wage payment, whichever is later.

Schedule H.

Use Schedule H (Form 1040) to report household employment taxes if you pay any of the following wages to the employee.

• Social security and Medicare wages of $3,000 or more.

• FUTA wages.

• Wages from which you withhold federal income tax.

File Schedule H (Form 1040) with your 2026 federal income tax return by April 15, 2027. If you get an extension to file your return, the extension will also apply to your Schedule H.

Filing options when no return is required.

If you’re not required to file a 2026 tax return, you have the following two options.

1. You can file Schedule H (Form 1040) by itself. See the Schedule H (Form 1040) instructions for details.

2. If, besides your household employee, you have other employees for whom you report employment taxes on Form 941, Form 944, or Form 943 and on Form 940, you can include your taxes for your household employee on those forms. See Business employment tax returns, later.

Employers having the options previously listed include certain tax-exempt organizations that don’t have to file a tax return, such as churches that pay a household worker to take care of a minister’s home.

Business employment tax returns.

Don’t use Schedule H (Form 1040) if you choose to pay the employment taxes for your household employee with business or farm employment taxes. (See Payment option for business employers, earlier.) Instead, include the social security, Medicare, and withheld federal income taxes for the employee on the Form 941 or Form 944 you file for your business or on the Form 943 you file for your farm. Include the FUTA tax for the employee on your Form 940.

If you report the employment taxes for your household employee on Form 941, Form 943, or Form 944, file Form W-2 for that employee with the Form(s) W-2 and Form W-3 for your business or farm employees.

For information on filing Form 941, Form 943, or Form 944, see Pub. 15. Pub. 15 also provides information about filing Form 940.

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: What Forms Must You File? — 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.