2020 Instructions for Schedule H Household Here Is a List of Forms That Household Employers Need to Complete
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Userid: CPM Schema: Leadpct: 100% Pt. size: 10 Draft Ok to Print i1040x AH XSL/XML Fileid: … 1040 SCH H/2020/A/XML/Cycle05/source (Init. & Date) _______ Page 1 of 17 17:06 - 24-May-2021 The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing. Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service 2020 Instructions for Schedule H Household Here is a list of forms that household employers need to complete. Employment • Schedule H (Form 1040) for figuring your household employment taxes. • Form W-2 for reporting wages paid to your employees. Taxes • Form W-3 for sending Copy A of Form(s) W-2 to the Social Security Adminis- tration (SSA). For more information, see What Forms Must You File? in Pub. 926, Household Employer's Tax Guide. We have been asked: Do I need to pay household employment taxes for 2020? If you have a household employee, you need to withhold and pay social security and Medicare taxes if you paid cash wages of $2,200 or more in 2020 to any one household employee. See Did you have a household employee? and the Line A instructions for more information. You need to pay federal unemployment tax if you paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2019 or 2020 to household employees. See the Part II. Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax instructions for more information. How do I file Schedule H? File Schedule H with your Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1040-SS, or 1041. If you’re not filing a 2020 tax return, file Schedule H by itself. Do I make a separate payment? No. You pay both income and employment taxes to the United States Treasury when you file Schedule H with your return. When do I pay? Most filers must pay by April 15, 2021. How many copies of Form W-3 do I send to the SSA? Send one copy of Form W-3 with Copy A of Form(s) W-2 to the SSA, and keep one copy of Form W-3 for your records. Important Dates! By .................... You must ........................... February 1, 2021 Give your employee Form W-2 and send Copy A of Form(s) W-2 with Form W-3 to the SSA. Go to SSA.gov/employer for details. April 15, 2021 File Schedule H and pay your household employment taxes with your 2020 tax return. Section references are to the Internal Revenue Code unless Contents Page otherwise noted. When and Where To File ....................... 4 Contents Page How To Fill In Schedule H, Form W-2, and Form W-3 ... 4 What's New ................................ 2 Schedule H ............................. 4 Reminders ................................. 2 Worksheet 1. Worksheet 1 for Credit for Late Who Needs To File Schedule H? .................. 3 Contributions .......................... 9 Who Needs To File Form W-2 and Form W-3? ........ 3 Worksheet 2. Worksheet 2 for Household Employers in a Credit Reduction State ........ 10 Do You Have an Employer Identification Number (EIN)? ................................ 3 Form W-2 and Form W-3 ................... 12 Can Your Employee Legally Work in the United Worksheet 3. Credit for Qualified Sick and Family States? ................................ 3 Leave Wages Due to the COVID-19 Crisis ....... 11 What About State Employment Taxes? .............. 3 Estimated Tax Penalty ........................ 12 H-1 May 14, 2021 Cat. No. 21451X Page 2 of 17 Fileid: … 1040 SCH H/2020/A/XML/Cycle05/source 17:06 - 24-May-2021 The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing. Contents Page For information about the rates and wage threshold that will What Records To Keep ....................... 12 apply in 2021, see Pub. 926. What Is the Earned Income Credit (EIC)? ........... 13 Qualified parking exclusion and commuter transportation benefit. For 2020, the monthly exclusion for qualified parking Rules for Business Employers ................... 13 is $270 and the monthly exclusion for commuter highway vehi- How To Correct Schedule H .................... 13 cle transportation and transit passes is $270. How To Get Forms and Publications .............. 13 Credit reduction state. A state that hasn't repaid money it Completed Examples of Schedule H, Form W-2, and borrowed from the federal government to pay unemployment Form W-3 ............................. 13 benefits is a “credit reduction state.” The Department of Labor Privacy Act and Paperwork Reduction Act Notice ...... 17 determines these states. If an employer pays wages that are subject to the unemployment tax laws of a credit reduction state, that employer must pay additional federal unemployment Future Developments tax. For 2020, the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) is the only credit For the latest information about developments related to Sched- reduction state. If you paid wages that were subject to the un- ule H and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they employment compensation laws of the USVI, your credit were published, go to IRS.gov/ScheduleH. At the time these in- against federal unemployment tax will be reduced based on the structions went to print, Congress was considering changes to credit reduction rate (for example, 0.03) for that credit reduc- some of the recent legislation discussed in these instructions. If tion state. See Worksheet 2, later, to figure your credit reduc- new legislation impacts these instructions, updates will be pos- tion for 2020. ted to IRS.gov/ScheduleH. Reminders What's New Form 1040-SR. Form 1040-SR, U.S. Tax Return for Seniors, Changes to Schedule H (Form 1040) for coronavirus (COV- was introduced for tax year 2019. This form is essentially the ID-19) related employment tax credits and other tax relief. same as Form 1040 and an eligible individual who files Form The following significant changes have been made to Sched- 1040-SR is considered to have filed a Form 1040. ule H (Form 1040) to allow for the reporting of new employ- Bicycle commuting reimbursements. The Tax Cuts and Jobs ment tax credits and other tax relief related to COVID-19. Act (P.L. 115-97) suspends the exclusion of qualified bicycle • The new credit for qualified sick and family leave wages commuting reimbursements from your employee's income for nonrefundable portion is reported on line 8b and the refundable tax years beginning after 2017 and before 2026. portion on line 8e, if applicable. Qualified sick and family Outsourcing payroll duties. You’re responsible to ensure that leave wages aren’t subject to the employer share of social se- tax returns are filed and deposits and payments are made, even curity tax. Qualified health plan expenses allocable to qualified if you contract with a third party to perform these acts. You re- sick and family leave wages are reported on lines 8g and 8i. main responsible if the third party fails to perform any required See the instructions for line 8b for information about the new action. Before you choose to outsource any of your payroll and credit for qualified sick and family leave wages. The amount of related tax duties (that is, withholding, reporting, and paying household employment tax payments that can be deferred is re- over social security, Medicare, FUTA, and income taxes) to a ported on line 8d. third-party payer, such as a payroll service provider or report- • Employers can defer the payment of the employer share ing agent, go to IRS.gov/OutsourcingPayrollDuties for helpful of social security tax otherwise due during the calendar quarter. information on this topic. For more information about the dif- The amount of deferral is reported on line 8d. See the instruc- ferent types of third-party payer arrangements, see section 16 tions for line 8d for more information. of Pub. 15. • The credit for qualified sick and family leave wages (re- ported on lines 8b and 8e) is figured on Worksheet 3. Paid preparers. If you use a paid preparer, your paid prepar- er must sign Schedule H in Part IV unless you’re attaching Changes to tax rates and wage threshold. The social securi- Schedule H to Form 1040, 1040-SR, 1040-NR, 1040-SS, or ty tax rate is 6.2% each for the employee and employer, un- 1041. A paid preparer must sign Schedule H and provide the changed from 2019. The social security wage base limit is information requested in the Paid Preparer Use Only section $137,700. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employ- only if the preparer was paid to prepare Schedule H and isn't ee and employer, unchanged from 2019. There is no wage base your employee. The preparer must give you a copy of the re- limit for Medicare tax. turn in addition to the copy to be filed with the IRS. If you pay a household employee $2,200 or more in cash If you’re required to file a 2020 Form W-2 for any house- wages during 2020, you must report and pay social security hold employee, you must also send Form W-3 with Copy A of and Medicare taxes on all the wages, including the first $2,200 Form(s) W-2 to the SSA. You’re encouraged to file your paid to that employee. If you pay less than $2,200 to a house- Forms W-2 and W-3 electronically. If filing electronically via hold employee, don't pay social security or Medicare taxes on the SSA's Form W-2 Online service, the SSA generates Form that household employee's wages. For more information, see W-3 data from the electronic submission of Form(s) W-2. Go Cash wages and $2,200 test, later.