I hate the IRS
All right, I just started getting into preparing my tax return. I figured it should be pretty simple this year as there wasn't anything funky in our incomes so I'm using tax software to save myself a few hundred bucks. However, we had a little wrinkle last year. We had a sitter for the boys over the summer and we did it the legal way. I paid her, gave her a pay stub, and withheld social security and medicare taxes to report the government.
Now, when we looked at this last year, it appeared all we would have to do is submit two forms to the IRS, a W-2 and W-3. Well, it appears it isn't that easy. You see, in order to submit a W-2, I need an employee ID number. In the "old" days, as a household employer, you could simply use your SSN. Nope. Now I have to go throught the hassles of getting the damn employer number. I don't have the "official" number yet so I can't file the W-2 or W-3 (which needed to be filed by Jan 31, oops). So now I'm hung up on all of this damn paperwork, because I paid the sitter about $700 over the limit which you have to report.
And to top it all off, while the sitter was GREAT with the kids last summer, it actually cost me MORE than if I'd placed them in day camp. Not to mention all the fun I'm having with the IRS. No wonder people would rather pay under the table. Forget the employee not having to pay taxes. It's not worth it to me as the "employer" to try and do things the right way. What a major pain in the ass this is! All things considered, I'm pretty sure that day camp is in the cards this summer.
God I hate IRS sometimes (ok, most of the time.)
Now, when we looked at this last year, it appeared all we would have to do is submit two forms to the IRS, a W-2 and W-3. Well, it appears it isn't that easy. You see, in order to submit a W-2, I need an employee ID number. In the "old" days, as a household employer, you could simply use your SSN. Nope. Now I have to go throught the hassles of getting the damn employer number. I don't have the "official" number yet so I can't file the W-2 or W-3 (which needed to be filed by Jan 31, oops). So now I'm hung up on all of this damn paperwork, because I paid the sitter about $700 over the limit which you have to report.
And to top it all off, while the sitter was GREAT with the kids last summer, it actually cost me MORE than if I'd placed them in day camp. Not to mention all the fun I'm having with the IRS. No wonder people would rather pay under the table. Forget the employee not having to pay taxes. It's not worth it to me as the "employer" to try and do things the right way. What a major pain in the ass this is! All things considered, I'm pretty sure that day camp is in the cards this summer.
God I hate IRS sometimes (ok, most of the time.)
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