Nanny W-2 for 2026: How to Fill Out Every Box

If you paid your nanny or another household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, you owe them a W-2 by February 1, 2027, and Copy A goes to the Social Security Administration the same day. (The usual January 31 date moves because January 31, 2027 is a Sunday.)

This guide walks through the household employee W-2 box by box, using one worked example, so you can fill in your own form next to it. It covers the new Box 12 Code TT for overtime, what changes if you paid your nanny's share of the taxes yourself, and how to file.

The W-2 is one of two year-end forms. The other is Schedule H, which goes with your own tax return.

Do you need to give your nanny a W-2?

You need a W-2 for each household employee you paid $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, and for any household employee whose pay you withheld federal income tax from. IRS Publication 926 lists both triggers:

"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."

IRS, Publication 926 (2026), Form W-2

The threshold for 2026 is $3,000. It counts cash wages only, and it's all or nothing: once one worker reaches $3,000 in the year, every dollar you paid her that year is Social Security and Medicare wages. Our nanny tax threshold guide covers how to track it through the year.

Some wages never count toward $3,000: what you pay your spouse, your child under 21, or your parent (with a narrow exception covered in our family employee guide), and pay to an employee under 18 whose main job isn't household work, which includes any student.

If you don't need a W-2, the IRS still suggests giving your worker a simple receipt with the dates worked, the wages paid and a short description of the work, so she can report the income on her own return.

What changed on the W-2 for 2026 wages

Three things are different from last year's form for most families:

• The threshold is $3,000 of cash wages to one employee.
• The Social Security wage base is $184,500, so Box 3 caps there and Box 4 caps at $11,439.
• Box 12 Code TT is new. It reports the premium part of overtime your nanny earned, so she can claim the new federal overtime deduction (up to $12,500, or $25,000 if married filing jointly) on her own return. It has its own section below.

The 2026 wage-cycle calendar

A 2026 nanny W-2, filled in box by box

The fastest way to understand the form is to see one filled in. Here is Ana, a full-time nanny, and the W-2 her family owes her for 2026.

The facts. Ana earns $24 an hour and works 45 hours every week: 40 regular hours ($960) plus 5 overtime hours at $36 ($180). That's $1,140 a week. The family pays her every Friday, which is 52 paychecks in 2026, for $59,280 in wages. They withhold her share of Social Security and Medicare from each paycheck, and she didn't ask them to withhold federal income tax.

A few notes on the boxes families ask about:

Box 1 is usually the same as Box 3 and Box 5, but not always. Box 1 includes the value of noncash pay, like meals or lodging you count as wages, but Boxes 3 and 5 don't. It also includes your nanny's share of the taxes if you paid it for her (next section).

Box 2 stays at $0 unless your nanny asked you to withhold federal income tax and you agreed. The IRS says household employers aren't required to withhold it, and she has to give you a Form W-4 first. See our guide on how to withhold nanny taxes if she asks.

Boxes 4 and 6 are only her share. Your matching 7.65% as the employer never appears on the W-2. You figure and pay it on Schedule H with your own return.

Box a needs her number, box b needs yours. If Ana's Social Security card hasn't arrived by the deadline, paper W-2s say "Applied For" in box a, and online you enter zeros. Once the number comes, you file a corrected W-2c. If you're still waiting on your own EIN, our EIN guide covers that case.

Want to check your own boxes before you file? Run the numbers through the nanny tax calculator.

If you paid her share yourself

Some families pay the nanny's 7.65% themselves instead of taking it out of her paycheck. That's allowed, and it changes one box. The IRS spells it out:

"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)."

IRS, Publication 926 (2026), Not withholding the employee's share

If Ana's family had paid her share, her W-2 would show:

Only Box 1 moves. The taxes you covered count as extra income to her, but not as extra Social Security or Medicare wages, so there's no tax on the tax.

Box 12, Code TT: the overtime premium

Code TT reports only the premium half of overtime that federal law requires, not her total overtime pay. The 2026 W-2 instructions define it this way:

"Qualified overtime is compensation that is paid to an individual required under section 7 of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 that is more than the regular rate at which the individual is employed. For example, only the 'half' portion of 'time-and-a-half' compensation would be reported using code TT."

IRS, 2026 General Instructions for Forms W-2 and W-3, Code TT

For Ana, the overtime rate is $36 and her regular rate is $24, so the premium is $12 an hour. Five overtime hours a week for 52 weeks is 260 hours, and 260 × $12 = $3,120. That's the Code TT amount. The full $180 a week of overtime pay is already inside Box 1.

For a nanny, Code TT is usually empty in three cases:

• Your nanny lives with you. If your nanny lives in your home and works for your family, federal law doesn't require overtime pay for her, so there is usually nothing to report in Code TT. The Department of Labor says live-in domestic workers employed by a family "are exempt from the overtime pay requirement, although they must be paid at least the federal minimum wage for all hours worked."
• Only your state requires the overtime. Some states require overtime that federal law doesn't, like daily overtime or overtime for live-in workers. You still pay it, but it isn't "required under section 7" of the federal law, so it doesn't go in Code TT.
• She worked no weeks over 40 hours. No overtime, no Code TT.

Code TT goes in Box 12, not Box 14. The most common mistake with it is reporting the full overtime pay instead of the premium.

The W-2 copies, and where each one goes

A W-2 comes as a set of copies, and each has one destination:

Give your nanny Copies B, C and 2 together by February 1, 2027. If she stopped working for you during 2026, you don't have to wait: the IRS lets you give her the W-2 right after her last paycheck, and if she asks for one, you have 30 days from her request or her last paycheck, whichever is later.

How to file Copy A with the SSA

The easiest way is SSA's free W-2 Online service at ssa.gov/employer. You type in the W-2, and SSA builds the Form W-3 for you. You must e-file if your W-2s plus any other information returns you file (such as 1099s) reach 10 or more in a year. A family filing one or two W-2s and nothing else is under that, so paper is also allowed.

If you file on paper, three rules apply:

1. Use the official red-ink Copy A. You can't print Copy A from the IRS website and mail it; SSA accepts only e-filed W-2s or the official red-ink forms (or an approved substitute).
2. Send Form W-3 with it, even for one employee, and check the Hshld. emp. box in box b.
3. Mail it by February 1, 2027.

NannyKeeper generates your W-2 as a PDF with every copy filled in from the payroll you ran. You hand your nanny her copies, keep yours, and enter the same numbers in W-2 Online for Copy A. We don't file it for you, so you see and submit exactly what goes to the SSA.

State W-2 copies (Copy 1)

The IRS instruction is short: send Copy 1 "if required, to your state, city, or local tax department," and ask that department how to complete Boxes 15 through 20. Whether your state wants Copy 1, and what it wants filed with it, is your state's own rule, so check your state rather than assuming.

Find your state's W-2 and filing requirements →

What happens if you file late?

The penalty is per W-2 and grows with time. For W-2s due in 2027:

The IRS W-2 instructions list these amounts for filings due after December 31, 2026. A mistake you find after filing is fixed with Form W-2c, not a new W-2.

Common W-2 mistakes

Putting your own SSN in box b. Box b takes your EIN. Your SSN goes on your own tax return, not the W-2.

Reporting total overtime in Code TT. Only the premium goes there: $12 an hour for Ana, not $36.

Reporting state-only overtime in Code TT. If federal law didn't require it, it doesn't go in Code TT.

Leaving your share of the taxes out of Box 1 when you paid them. If you covered her 7.65%, Box 1 goes up and Boxes 3 and 5 don't.

Printing Copy A on plain paper. SSA can't process it. E-file or use the red-ink form.

Using the wrong year's form. Tax-year 2026 wages go on the 2026 W-2, which you file in 2027.

How NannyKeeper handles the W-2

If you run payroll with NannyKeeper during 2026, your W-2 is built from the paychecks you already ran: every box, including Code TT from the hours you logged and your state boxes. W-2s are included on every paid plan (from $10/month).

If you only need the forms for a year that has already ended, answer three quick questions on our W-2 page and get your W-2 and Schedule H for $10 once, with no subscription.

You stay the filer: you give your nanny her copies and enter Copy A in W-2 Online. What we take off your plate is the arithmetic and the box-by-box guesswork.

Get started free →, or read more about our household employer payroll.

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FAQ

What is the W-2 deadline for 2026 wages?

February 1, 2027. That's the date for giving your nanny her copies and for filing Copy A with the Social Security Administration. The usual date is January 31, but January 31, 2027 falls on a Sunday.

Do I need to give my nanny a W-2 if I paid her less than $3,000?

Not usually. A W-2 is required when you paid a household employee $3,000 or more in cash wages in 2026, or when you withheld federal income tax from her pay. Under $3,000 with nothing withheld, the IRS suggests a simple receipt instead.

What is Code TT on a 2026 W-2?

Code TT in Box 12 reports the premium half of overtime that federal law required you to pay, such as the extra $12 an hour when a $24-an-hour nanny earns $36 for overtime. It's new for 2026 wages. A live-in nanny usually has no Code TT amount, because federal law doesn't require overtime for her.

What if I didn't withhold any taxes from my nanny's pay?

You still owe the W-2 if she earned $3,000 or more. If you paid her share of Social Security and Medicare yourself, report that amount in Boxes 4 and 6 and add it to Box 1, but not to Boxes 3 or 5. If you haven't paid it at all, you still owe both shares when you file Schedule H.

Can I give my nanny a 1099 instead of a W-2?

Not if she's your employee, and most nannies are. The IRS test is control: if you control not only what work she does but how she does it, she's your employee, and a 1099 is for contractors. One exception is a worker an agency provides, when the agency controls what work is done and how; then she isn't your employee at all. See employee vs. contractor.

What if my nanny quit mid-year?

She still gets a W-2 if you paid her $3,000 or more in 2026, or withheld federal income tax from her pay. You can give it to her right after her last paycheck instead of waiting for January, and if she asks for it, you have 30 days from her request or her last paycheck, whichever is later.

Do I need an EIN to fill out a W-2?

Yes. Box b needs your employer identification number, which is free from the IRS. Our EIN guide for household employers walks through getting one.

What if I have more than one household employee?

Each employee who crossed $3,000 (or had income tax withheld) gets their own W-2. On paper, one Form W-3 totals them all.