Babysitters and Newspaper Carriers under the age of 18
This entry was posted on 3/10/2008 5:32 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
From kiplinger.com: "...teenage babysitters are normally considered employees, so they are exempt from paying self-employment tax. There's also a specific exemption for newspaper carriers under age 18.
If a child under 18 is working part-time as a household worker (this means babysitters, gardeners, people who do housecleaning or repair work, or anyone who is employed in or around someone else's home), he or she is also exempt from the Social Security tax."
http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/drt/archive/2007/dt070703.html
It's been my general advice that if your child is in a similar situation, they don't have to pay the Self Employment Tax. The income is reported on line 21 of form 1040. I code it "Child's non SE earned income", so that my tax preparation software knows its relevant attributes and treats it in the correct way. Line 21 is used for almost everything that doesn't fit someplace else on the return. In the case of a child with earned income from babysitting entered on line 21, their standard deduction should be tied to this line 21. As their line 21 increases, their standard deduction generally also increases, up to the 2007 maximum of $5350.
