How do I know Poppins Payroll won’t make a mistake?

The $49/month subscription fee includes household payroll services for one employee. It covers payroll processing, tax payments, quarterly filings, and year-end tax documents (W-2, W-3, and Schedule H) for active accounts.

Poppins handles federal and state tax account registrations as required, based on applicable employment laws and thresholds. You can manage payroll through your personalized dashboard — choosing weekly, biweekly, semimonthly, or monthly pay schedules (unless restricted by state rules).

We can process payments by direct deposit or you can issue checks (or electronic transfers) yourself. At the end of each quarter, we’ll collect the applicable state and federal taxes and submit them along with all required reports.

If your account is closed before the end of a quarter or calendar year, preparation or submission of those filings will be billed separately. Additional fees may apply for state registrations, amended filings, or prior-period payroll adjustments.

As an employer, you’ll generally pay about 10% of your employee’s gross wages in household employment taxes. This amount covers your required employer contributions for Social Security, Medicare, and other state-specific programs.

Nope! Getting started is included in your monthly price. We’ll handle tax registrations and set up your account at no extra charge (as long as you are an active customer).

Nannies, babysitters, and most in-home childcare providers are household employees because you determine their schedule, workplace, and responsibilities.

If you hire someone to provide in-home support, they’re likely considered a household employee. This can include:

• Live-in caregivers
• Overnight care providers
• Eldercare companions
• Home health aides
• Home assistants

Your employer will handle setting you up in Poppins. They’ll collect your completed I-9 and W-4 forms along with your contact info and payment details. It's that simple!

Absolutely. If you’ve already paid your nanny outside of Poppins and need to record those payments and file the associated taxes, we can help for an additional fee. We'll record payments, calculate withholdings, and file any outstanding taxes (subject to state and federal filing availability).

If you pay more than $2,800 in a year or $1,000 in a quarter, you must pay Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes, plus any state-specific taxes.

Most senior caregivers who are paid by the household for work that takes place at home are considered household employees, not independent contractors. Poppins helps you pay these household employees, and issues W-2s to your caregivers every year.

Yes, we’ll take care of your W-2 so you can focus on everything else. Just confirm with your employer that they’ve selected this service with Poppins.

You’ll withhold your employee’s share of Social Security and Medicare taxes (7.65%) from each paycheck, along with any  income taxes they elect and any state-specific deductions that apply.

Yes! Poppins is available in every state in the US, with experts who know the ins and outs of every state’s rules.

You choose weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly (unless limited by your state). Payroll runs automatically unless you make updates. Payments go out one week in arrears, giving you time to adjust hours.

Managing household payroll on your own can be a huge time drain — families spend nearly 60 hours on it, according to the IRS. We take that off your plate so you can focus on your family. CPAs love working with us too — our household payroll expertise makes their job easier, and our service costs a fraction of what it would if they handled payroll in-house.

Legal pay gives your nanny benefits like Social Security and Medicare credits, unemployment insurance, and in some states, disability or paid family leave — while protecting you from fines or legal issues.

Your parent will be the employer on the Poppins account.

You’ll find them in your Employee Cubby. It keeps everything tidy and safe, with access to your paystubs and W-2s for up to five years.

We specialize in household payroll only — it’s a different world from business payroll. For small businesses, we recommend our trusted partner, Gusto.

Need to adjust hours, pay, or PTO? Simply log into your dashboard and update the details. As long as you do it before Sunday night, the changes will appear in that Friday’s pay.

Household employer taxes are made up of two parts: 1) the amounts withheld from the employee and 2) the amounts that the employer must contribute.  We calculate each tax type every payday. At the end of the quarter, we’ll collect all the taxes from you and submit them on your behalf along with the required reporting. Taxes have never been less, well, taxing.

Yes. There’s no contract. If you cancel mid-quarter or mid-year but still want us to handle that period’s filings and prepare year-end documents, a one-time fee applies. Otherwise, you’ll need to file those forms yourself.

Your nanny must fill out Form I-9 (to verify work eligibility) and Form W-4 (for federal tax elections), plus any state tax forms. Poppins provides and guides you through them.

That’s a-okay by us! You can set up an account for each employee in Poppins, and customize payroll and benefits details according to your contract.

Absolutely. Once your employer sets up PTO and sick leave policies, they’ll be automatically reflected on each paystub.

We don't sell workers' compensation ourselves, but we do partner with the awesome folks at Bhalu insurance. Workers' compensation insurance provides benefits to your employee in the event of an on-the-job injury. It can also limit an employer’s liability. It’s certainly a good idea to have it, but it’s not required in many states. You can check out our resource pages for your state’s rules.

Bhalu Insurance are THE experts in Workers Comp Insurance for household employers. In fact, that’s literally all they do. Check out their site for a free quote or give them a shout. Let them know you came from Poppins when signing up.

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Your dashboard shows your real-time tax liability. We’ll also send email reminders before any withdrawal so you’re never surprised.

Nope. Direct deposit is included.

Some states require one, but even if yours doesn’t, a written agreement is highly recommended. Poppins provides sample contracts you can customize.

You do not need to pay household employer taxes if your caregiver is your spouse, your child under the age of 21, your parent (unless an exception applies), or anyone under the age of 18. Check out IRS Publication 926 for more details.

We sure do! Your employer can set this up in Employer Reimbursements in the Next Payroll tab.

You have a number of options for providing untaxed health benefits for your employees. Our partners at Take Command can help you with setting up some of these options.

You can set up an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA). This allows you to reimburse your employee for qualified health expenses and/or their health insurance premiums through an ICHRA without a cap. It also gives you the ability to offer different reimbursement amounts to each employee.

You can also set up a Qualified Small Employer Health Reimbursement Arrangement (QSEHRA), which gives some additional tax benefits to the employer, but also has additional set up and administration expenses an also requires additional reporting on W-2s.

If you are interested in an ICHRA or QSEHRA for your employees, you should chat with our partners at Take Command. Take Command specializes in helping employers like you set up untaxed health benefits for their employees. In fact, they’ve have been helping household employers set up health reimbursement accounts for a decade.

You can also enroll in a health insurance policy through the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP). This may enable you to take advantage of the Health Insurance Tax Credit for Small Employers.

Lastly, some accountants believe that if you have a single household employee, you can simply reimburse your employee for their health insurance premiums directly. While you can add reimbursements easily into payroll, Poppins does not take a position as to whether such reimbursements are income subject to payroll taxes. You should discuss this with your accountant before deciding how to proceed.

Yes. Create your own PTO or sick leave policy, and we’ll track balances automatically on employee paystubs.

No — choose the schedule that works for you.

Yes. For active customers, we prepare, file, and pay all required federal, state, and local taxes on time, every time, with guaranteed accuracy. Plus, we also handle year-end W-2s and employer forms for active customers.

Some states require contracts with household employees. Check our state resources to see if your state is one of them. We created a free caregiver contract to help you get started on the right foot.

Absolutely. Paystubs are emailed to employees each payday and saved in your online filing cabinet.

You get your first calendar month free. Try us out, and if you cancel before the next billing date, you won’t owe a thing.

Yes. Each family is considered a separate household employer. That means each sets up their own Poppins account and issues their own W-2s. We’ll guide you through it step by step.

Some states require worker’s compensation insurance for household employment. Check our state resources to see if your state is one of them.

Some families will purchase workers' compensation even if it's not required by their state since it protects both the employer and employee.

We’ve partnered with Bhalu Insurance, because they’re THE experts in workers' comp for household employers. In fact, that’s literally all they do. Check them out if you want coverage. Just let them know you came from Poppins when signing up!

In most states, yes — though overtime rules still apply. We support both salary and hourly pay. (Check our state guides for details.)

We’ve got you covered. You can set multiple hourly rates (plus overtime and reimbursements) right in your dashboard.

If your account closes before the end of a quarter or calendar year, any related quarterly or year-end filings, payments, and documents (including W-2, W-3, and Schedule H) will be billed separately. Additional fees may also apply for:

• State registrations (where your state charges a registration or filing fee).
• Non-standard services, such as insufficient funds, account reactivation, late payroll revisions, or manual tax preparation.
• Prior-period household taxes (aka calculating and filing missed nanny taxes).

These fees may apply to both active and inactive accounts.

No problem. Each additional employee is just $10/month, and we’ll handle their payroll and W-2s too.

Because household payroll is trickier than business payroll. We focus only on families like yours, so we know the rules inside out — from overtime laws to PTO accruals.

You’ll enter it during signup. Just keep in mind that we can only use a household employer EIN — not a business EIN. We’ll also ask you to sign an SS-4 form (an IRS requirement), but we won’t request a new number unless it’s truly needed. And don’t worry — the IRS only allows one household EIN per employer, so there’s no risk of duplicates.

It depends! Based on eligibility, here are two ways you could qualify for tax savings:

1. Dependent Care FSA: If your employer offers one, you can set aside up to $5,000 pre-tax each year to pay for child care. Starting January 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act increases the DCFSA limit from $5,000 to $7,500 per household (or $3,750 if married filing separately).
2. Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit: If you don’t have an FSA, you may qualify for a tax credit of up to $600 for one child or $1,200 for two or more, based on 20% of eligible expenses. Starting in 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act boosts this credit rate up to 50% of qualifying expenses (phasing down to 20% as income increases), while keeping expense limits at $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for two or more.

With Poppins Payroll, your paystubs are always at your fingertips — making reimbursements and filings simple.

The IRS requires that your household employee complete Form I-9 and Form W-4. The I-9 serves as a verification that your employee is authorized to work in the United States. The W-4 sets forth your employee’s federal income tax elections. You do not need to submit these forms to the government, but you instead keep them for your records. Many states also have tax election forms like the W-4 that address state income tax elections.

When you sign up with Poppins, we email you all the forms your nanny needs to complete. You simply enter your nanny’s tax elections into your online Poppins account, and we handle the rest!