Freelance caregivers.

It is bullsnot. If she files as a business, she should have an EIN# to give you. A state license. Some Insurance coverage. Certification. Background checks. Bet she did not offer you any copies of it.

No..she sure didnt...and thanks for confirming my suspicions.

Pam, I love that expression .. Bullsnot , thats so much better than the other expression.
Katie, Unless she can give you a tax id # she is definitely working under the table.

If she is self employed you are not required to withhold taxes as a private individual. You can go by her word. The only time you may be required to withhold taxes as a private individual is if she works for you full time. Check with your tax accountant or call the IRS hotline. It is her responsibility to pay her taxes not yours. The same applies to a housecleaner. You pay them cash or in check. I work as a consultant in research and get paid with a check all the time, and no one withholds taxes. Sometimes I have to provide a form to a company listing my social security number as my self employed ID (I do not need a business number) if I am working for a company part-time in doing a research project.

One more thing -- if you want to be a good citizen, have a home health aid show you proof of ability to work in the USA by either furnishing you a driver's license, passport, social security number -- anything that confirms that someone can legally work in the United States. Not many people do this as private citizens -- but you do have a responsibility to ensure that someone who provides services to you can work here legally. You may wish to do that. But this is not withholding taxes, and workers who are self employed, once again, can file taxes using their social security numbers legally if they are self employed.

I pay in my own taxes as well. I've never had any problems.

I have been self employed for about 20 yrs and I have no RON or whatever the one person said. I work for churches and other organizations and some but not all will have me fill out a W9. In January they mail me a 1099 (if they paid me $600 or more). I file my income on a Scedule C and report all income there. After deducting all business expenses that are legit, I pay the full 15.3% Medicare /Soc Sec taxes, and whatever income is left is added onto the 1040 to my spouses income, and from there we pay our joint income tax. We are in 15 percent bracket so it's easy to see, for example, if a job pay me $250 and I had $50 expenses, I am still taxed 15, and then another 15 percent, so only "making" $144.50 on that $250 job. Oops I forgot about how I have to pay health ins, dental, retirement, and receive absolutely ZERO sick, vacation, or FMLA or even Unemployement. But I digress. The independent caregiver is responsible for filing all.of this, ONLY if they are not your "Employee "....be sure to read the IRS booklet about Household Employees, if a CG is an employee then you must file all those taxes for them on proper IRS forms.