Household Staff Payroll and Tax Services
Expert payroll, tax, and HR support for your private household team.
Streamline Payroll, Benefits, and Compliance for Your Household Staff
Managing a proficient household or estate staff involves supporting a team of professionals, including household and property staff and personnel.
To attract and retain the best employees, hire the best fits for your staff, and comply with labor laws, you need to run your household like a business, complete with a household staff payroll service, personnel management, compliance administration, and employee benefits.
With GTM’s comprehensive household staff payroll, tax, employee benefits, and human resource service, you can:
- Simplify the complexities of managing employees, including onboarding, offboarding, and performance management
- Stay compliant with tax, wage, and labor laws
- Undertake a risk assessment to review any gaps in insurance coverage when employing workers in a home, estate, or other type of property
- Receive expert guidance and setup of employee benefits, including health insurance, tax savings accounts, and retirement plans
Features and Benefits of GTM’s Household Staff Payroll, Tax & HR Service
Our full-service solution for all your nanny payroll needs, includes:
Comprehensive Payroll Processing
Automated payroll processing with free direct deposit for hassle-free paydays.
Guaranteed On-time Tax Filings
Quarterly, annual, state and federal taxes filed on time, every time.*
Tax, Wage, and Labor Law Compliance
Expert guidance to stay legal, avoid fines and penalties, and protect your family and employees.
Automated Tax Withholdings
Tax withholdings are automatically calculated for you
Expert Client Support
You’re backed by an experienced team of certified payroll professionals, tax experts, licensed insurance brokers, and certified HR advisors.
Digital Timesheets
Employees punch in and out on their mobile devices to create timesheets that flow seamlessly into payroll.
* OUR GUARANTEE: If you receive a notice from the IRS, or any other tax agency, based on a filing that GTM Payroll Services made, we’ll work with the agency on your behalf to resolve the issue. If we’re at fault, we’ll pay all the associated penalties and fines.
Questions? Get Help with Household Payroll
A household payroll expert can answer questions you have about your own situation.
Call or chat with us during business hours, or schedule a free consultation at your convenience.
Call Toll Free: 800-929-9213
Hours: Mon-Fri 8:30 am - 8pm, ET
Why GTM?
One-stop Shop
GTM handles all your payroll, tax, workers’ compensation insurance, and employee benefit needs under one roof.
Team of Experts
Your account is backed by a team of certified payroll and HR professionals, licensed insurance brokers, and household employment tax experts.
Ecstatic Clients
With the best reviews in the business, clients love the services and support from a firm that has served tens of thousands of families.
Data Security
GTM adheres to the highest data security standards to ensure your information remains confidential.
Understanding Household Staff Payroll
You will likely need to pay household employment taxes if you employ workers in your home, or on other properties, and they make $2,800 or more in gross wages in 2025 (or $2,700 in 2024).
Household employment taxes, commonly referred to as “nanny taxes,” are the taxes a family must pay when employing household staff. A household employer will owe Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA taxes) as well as federal and state unemployment taxes while withholding their employee’s share of FICA taxes. Withholding income taxes is optional, but a good idea, so your household employees do not owe their entire tax obligations when they file their personal tax returns.
Using a Household Staff Payroll Service
Your time is better spent doing something – anything else – than figuring out employment taxes. Get household staff payroll wrong – even if your mistakes are unintentional – and you could face significant fines and penalties.
That is why you should leave the hassles and risks of household staff payroll and taxes to the experts in household employment.
GTM’s household staff payroll service leverages our professional expertise in household payroll processing, tax and labor compliance, employee management, and benefits and insurance offerings. It is complemented by ongoing, unparalleled client service and support.
Your privacy and confidentiality are our utmost concern. We’ll manage your account with discretion and a commitment to the highest levels of data security.
Household employees may include:
Property staff
- Property or estate manager
- Landscaper
- Gardener
Household staff
- Nanny
- Senior caregiver
- Housekeeper
- Chef
- Chauffeur/driver
- Butler
Administrative personnel
- Personal assistant
- Household manager
- Finance manager
Specialty personnel
- Pilot
- Yacht crew
More Than Just a Household Staff Payroll Service
Our full-service solution for all your payroll needs, includes:
Workplace Insurance
Failing to have the required workers’ compensation coverage can result in fines of tens of thousands of dollars. We’ll conduct a thorough risk assessment to reveal any other gaps in workplace coverage.
Employee Management
A PHR-certified human resources advisor can review and guide you on employment best practices, job descriptions, offer letters, handbooks, work agreements, and more.**
** Additional fees apply
Employee Benefits
Attract and retain top talent by offering a benefits package that can include health insurance, retirement plan, and more. An employee benefits expert can customize a package for you and help administer plans.
Reviews from Real Clients of our Nanny Payroll and Tax Services
Frequently Asked Questions
Explore answers to the most common questions household employers have about managing their responsibilities effectively.
What are the tax withholding, reporting, and filing obligations as a household employer?
Answer – As a household employer, you’re responsible for complying with both federal and state payroll tax requirements, which are similar to what a small business faces. This means withholding Social Security and Medicare taxes from employee wages and remitting the employer’s matching portion. You will also withhold federal, state (if applicable), and local (if applicable) income taxes. You can remit these taxes quarterly.
In January, employees should receive their W-2s, and you’ll file Form W-3 with the Social Security Administration and Schedule H with your personal tax return. Partnering with a household payroll service helps ensure that these filings are automated, accurate, and handled on time, significantly reducing compliance risk.
Do we need to obtain workers’ compensation insurance?
Answer – In many states, workers’ compensation insurance is mandatory once you employ household staff, regardless of whether it’s a nanny, housekeeper, or estate manager’s assistant. Workers’ comp protects both the employee, by covering medical expenses and lost wages in case of a workplace injury, and the household employer/family by providing protection from lawsuits related to workplace accidents. Failing to obtain the required coverage is one of the costliest mistakes a household employer can make, with fines as high as $5,000 for every 10 days without a policy in place. The GTM Insurance Agency works with thousands of household employers to make sure they’re properly protected and can provide a quote for coverage.
What kinds of employee benefits and insurance must or should we offer?
Answer – While household employers aren’t required to offer benefits, they can be a strategic advantage in attracting and retaining top-quality employees. Providing health insurance, tax-savings accounts, health reimbursement arrangements, a retirement plan, and/other benefits will elevate you as a desirable employer and foster loyalty among staff. GTM can help administer benefits seamlessly through payroll, formalize these benefits in writing, ensure compliance with tax rules, and integrate contributions and deductions into payroll processing, ensuring employees receive accurate and transparent pay stubs.
How do we ensure compliance with wage, overtime, and labor laws for our household staff?
Answer – Household employees are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which means workers must be paid at least minimum wage and overtime for hours worked over 40 in a week (with some exceptions for live-in staff). Each state (and some cities) may impose stricter wage and hour rules, including meal and rest breaks, paid family and/or leave, paid sleeping time, domestic worker protections, or higher minimum wages.
To help ensure compliance, you must accurately track hours worked. Staff should receive clear guidelines on schedules, breaks, and overtime approval to avoid disputes. A payroll service specializing in household employment helps ensure that these laws are applied correctly and can integrate timekeeping with payroll, protecting both your family and employees.
How do we safely and confidentially manage payroll, HR, and sensitive employee data?
Answer –Managing payroll for household staff involves handling sensitive personal and financial information, including Social Security numbers, bank account details, and wage data. Protecting this information is critical, particularly in a high-net-worth household environment where discretion is paramount.
A trusted payroll partner provides secure online portals, encrypted data transfers, and role-based access, ensuring that only authorized individuals can view or approve payroll information. Internally, establish clear procedures for hiring, termination, and maintaining personnel records, while adhering to relevant privacy laws. Having a dedicated household payroll service and HR service helps ensure confidentiality and reduce the risks of data breaches, errors, or exposure of sensitive details.
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