Household employee-

[Marcia]

I have a client who will be paying a household employee $6000.00. Taxes will be paid quarterly and not on Sch H. Is taxpayer able to take a deduction for employer share of FICA/Medicare tax? Their tax expense is over $10,000 on their Sch A.

[ATSMAN]

https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1040sh

Check this out with the Covid related changes.

1040 or 1040-SR	Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 7a.	Schedule 3 (Form 1040) line 12b	See the instructions for line 12e of Schedule 3 (Form 1040)

[Rapid Robert]

I have a client who will be paying a household employee $6000.00. Taxes will be paid quarterly and not on Sch H. Is taxpayer able to take a deduction for employer share of FICA/Medicare tax? Their tax expense is over $10,000 on their Sch A.

No, payroll taxes are not state/local income taxes (SALT) and are not deductible on Schedule A[*]. As you indicate, with SALT for your taxpayer already over $10K, they wouldn't be an additional deduction even if they did fall into that category. The household employer is not conducting a trade or business, so there are no business expense deductions. (Incidentally, the taxes are still calculated on Schedule H, even if quarterly estimated 1040-ES payments are made).

However, the payroll taxes can be considered a qualified expense for purposes of the Child/Dependent Care tax credit.

.[*] edit - although a variety of taxes other than SALT are deductible on Schedule A, per instructions the payroll taxes explicitly are not deductible "Taxes You Can't Deduct -- Social security, Medicare, federal unemployment (FUTA), and railroad retirement (RRTA) taxes."

[Burke]

If the "household employee" is a medical caregiver or nurse for a qualified TP or dependent claimed on the return, the salary and all those employer-share-paid taxes can be deducted as a medical expense -- if they have enough to get over the exclusion amount -- and then the standard deduction. Also, workmans' comp related to the employment would be eligible, and SUTA.