Need help with entering nanny/household employee taxes in TurboTax - completely lost

You're on the right track, but TurboTax doesn't have the clearest path for household employers. What Poppins is telling you to do is correct - those federal tax payments you made should be reported as estimated tax payments because they're separate from your regular withholding. In TurboTax, when it asks about quarterly estimated tax payments, enter the dates you actually made the payments through Poppins. These won't necessarily align with the standard quarterly tax deadlines. If you paid monthly through Poppins, you can combine the payments by quarter and enter them that way. The important thing is that the total amount matches what you paid. You'll also need to complete Schedule H (Household Employment Taxes) in TurboTax. There should be a section specifically for household employees where you can enter this information. The Schedule H worksheet from Poppins will have all the data you need to complete this section.

I went through this exact headache last year! After trying to figure it out myself, I finally used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help me sort through my nanny tax documents. I uploaded all my Poppins reports and pay stubs, and it organized everything perfectly and told me exactly where to enter each number in TurboTax. What tripped me up was that I needed to enter the Schedule H information AND report the federal tax payments separately as estimated payments. The tool explained that these are two different things - Schedule H shows what you owe for household employment taxes, while the estimated payments section is where you tell the IRS what you've already paid toward those taxes.

I took the advice about taxr.ai and tried it yesterday - honestly wish I'd known about it sooner! I uploaded all my Poppins documents and it immediately identified that I needed to enter my federal tax payments as estimated taxes, but it also pointed out that I was missing the state unemployment tax payments section in TurboTax. It even flagged that I was eligible for the dependent care tax credit since my nanny was caring for my kids while I worked. I had completely overlooked this because I was so focused on getting the employment taxes right! Saved me nearly $1,200 I would have missed. Definitely recommend for anyone dealing with household employee situations.

If you're still having trouble getting answers from TurboTax's support (which took me days last year), try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I used it to get through to an actual IRS agent about my nanny tax questions. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I had been trying to call the IRS for a week with no luck - always disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Claimyr got me through in about 25 minutes, and the IRS agent walked me through exactly how to report my nanny taxes. They confirmed that the federal taxes paid through a payroll service should be reported as estimated payments, and explained how to properly complete Schedule H.

I have to eat my words. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr as a last resort because I was desperate for answers about my nanny taxes. I got through to an IRS representative in about 35 minutes, which is miraculous considering I had tried calling myself at least 20 times over 2 weeks with no success. The IRS agent confirmed exactly what others here have said - the household employment taxes paid through Poppins should be entered as estimated tax payments in TurboTax. They also explained that I needed to make sure my Schedule H wages matched what was reported on my W-2 for the nanny, something I hadn't realized was important for avoiding audit flags. Definitely worth it for the peace of mind alone.

One important thing nobody's mentioned yet - make sure you're also getting the state taxes right for your nanny. I'm in California and had to file a separate DE-3 form quarterly with the state, plus the annual DE-9 and DE-9C forms. TurboTax won't handle that part for you at all. Poppins should provide reports for your state obligations too, not just federal. If you're not processing those separate state filings, you could end up with a nasty surprise from your state tax agency later. Ask Poppins specifically about what state forms you need to file separately from your personal tax return.

Has anyone used the FreeTaxUSA software instead of TurboTax for household employee taxes? I'm wondering if it handles Schedule H any better. TurboTax is so expensive, especially when you need the higher-tier versions just for Schedule H.

Just went through this exact situation myself! I was also using a payroll service (HomePay) and got completely confused about where to enter everything in TurboTax. Here's what I learned after calling both the payroll service and spending way too much time on IRS.gov: 1. Yes, enter those federal tax payments as estimated taxes - that's correct 2. When TurboTax asks about quarterly payment dates, don't stress about matching the "official" quarterly dates. Just group your payments by quarter and use the date of your last payment in each quarter 3. Make sure you're also completing the Schedule H section separately - this shows what you owe vs. what you've already paid 4. Double-check that your nanny received their W-2 and that the wage amounts match between your Schedule H and their W-2 The thing that helped me most was realizing these are two separate things: Schedule H calculates your household employment tax liability, while the estimated payments section gives you credit for taxes already paid. Once I understood that distinction, everything clicked into place. Also, if you paid over $2,700 in wages to your nanny in 2024, you definitely need to file Schedule H - it's not optional even if you used a payroll service.