Change to social security and Medicare wage threshold. The social security and Medicare wage threshold is $1,700 for 2009. This means that if you pay a household employee cash wages of less than $1,700 in 2009, you do not have to report and pay social security and Medicare taxes on that employee's 2009 wages. For more information, see Social security and Medicare wages on page 4.

Increased exclusion amount for transit passes.  The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 increased the exclusion amount for transit passes to $230. For more information, see Wages not counted beginning on page 4.

Photographs of missing children. The Internal Revenue Service is a proud partner with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Photographs of missing children selected by the Center may appear in this publication on pages that would otherwise be blank. You can help bring these children home by looking at the photographs and calling 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) if you recognize a child.

The information in this publication applies to you only if you have a household employee. If you have a household employee in 2009, you may need to pay state and federal employment taxes for 2009. You generally must add your federal employment taxes to the income tax that you will report on your 2009 federal income tax return.

This publication will help you decide whether you have a household employee and, if you do, whether you need to pay federal employment taxes (social security tax, Medicare tax, federal unemployment tax, and federal income tax withholding). It explains how to figure, pay, and report these taxes for your household employee. It also explains what records you need to keep.

This publication also tells you where to find out whether you need to pay state unemployment tax for your household employee.