Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Line 9 is the household employment taxes you owe for having a household employee, and the amount comes from Schedule H. The instructions give three tests, and if any one applies you read Schedule H and its instructions to find out whether you owe the taxes.
More IRS forms for employers and business owners, read line by line: Form 940 instructions and Form 944 instructions.
Line-by-line IRS form guides for 2025: Form 2441 lines A, B and 1.
What line 9 asks for
The form’s caption for line 9 reads “Household employment taxes. Attach Schedule H”. The instructions say “Enter the household employment taxes you owe for having a household employee.” The related wages line on Form 1040 is covered on the page about household employee wages.
The three tests
The instructions say “If any of the following apply, see Schedule H and its instructions to find out if you owe these taxes.”
Test 1: “You paid any one household employee (defined below) cash wages of $2,800 or more in 2025.” The instructions add “Cash wages include wages paid by check, money order, etc.” and “But don’t count amounts paid to an employee who was under age 18 at any time in 2025 and was a student.”
Test 2: “You withheld federal income tax during 2025 at the request of any household employee.”
Test 3: “You paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2024 or 2025 to household employees.”
Who counts as a household employee
The instructions define the term: “Any person who does household work is a household employee if you can control what will be done and how it will be done.” They give examples: “Household work includes work done in or around your home by babysitters, nannies, health aides, housekeepers, yard workers, and similar domestic workers.”
Where the number comes from
The amount comes from Schedule H, which is attached to the return. Schedule 2 does not figure these taxes itself. Test 2 above mentions income tax withheld at an employee’s request, and the form an employee uses to set withholding is explained on the Form W-4 page.
Where it goes next
Line 9 is one of the lines added on line 21, which reads “Add lines 4, 7 through 16, 18, and 19. These are your total other taxes.” and then “Enter here and on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, line 23”. The whole schedule is on the Schedule 2 (Form 1040) page and the return itself is on the Form 1040 page.
Edition and line numbers
This page reads the 2025 Schedule 2 (Form 1040) and the 2025 Form 1040 instructions, the current files irs.gov served on 2026-10-17. They are the files for the tax year 2025 return, filed in 2026. The schedule says “Attach to Form 1040, 1040-SR, or 1040-NR.” Its line instructions are part of the Form 1040 instructions, under the heading “Instructions for Schedule 2”. Check the tax year printed on the schedule you are filling in and use the line numbers on that year’s schedule, because a different year’s schedule can number or word its lines differently.
Common mistakes
- Counting a student’s wages that the instructions exclude. They say “But don’t count amounts paid to an employee who was under age 18 at any time in 2025 and was a student.”
- Forgetting the quarterly test. The instructions say “You paid total cash wages of $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter of 2024 or 2025 to household employees.”
- Assuming a nanny or housekeeper is a contractor. The instructions say “Household work includes work done in or around your home by babysitters, nannies, health aides, housekeepers, yard workers, and similar domestic workers.”
Related: household employee wages, Form W-4, lines 22, 23 and 24, and Form 1040.
Sources
- Instructions for Form 1040 and Form 1040-SR (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf
- Schedule 2 (Form 1040), Additional Taxes (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040s2.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.