Can I pay my mom to watch my kids, and do I owe taxes?
Short answer
Yes. Wages you pay your own parent for child care usually don't owe Social Security and Medicare taxes. They do only when both of these are true: your child lives with you and is under 18 or needs an adult's personal care for at least 4 continuous weeks in the quarter, and you're divorced and haven't remarried, widowed, or living with a spouse whose physical or mental condition keeps them from caring for your child for at least 4 continuous weeks in the quarter. Federal unemployment tax never applies to wages you pay your parent.
Answered by the NannyKeeper team
The numbers
“Don't count wages you pay to: Your spouse, Your child under the age of 21, or Your parent.”
- Social Security and Medicare
- Usually not owed on your parent's wages
- Federal unemployment
- Never owed on your parent's wages
- Income tax
- Your parent reports what you pay them
Sources
- IRS Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer's Tax Guide · Read October 25, 2026
- Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 3121 · Read October 25, 2026
What this means for you
- Both parts of the exception have to apply. A married couple raising their kids together, with both able to care for them, stays exempt.
- This covers your own mom or dad, not your spouse's. The tax code exempts a parent working for their son or daughter, so if your mother-in-law watches the kids, the exemption applies only when your spouse is the employer.
- By our reading of each state's law, state unemployment tax can still apply to a parent's wages in Colorado, Montana, New York and Washington.
- You don't have to withhold income tax from your parent's pay unless they ask and you agree.
Read the full guide: Can I pay my mom to babysit? Tax rules