Paying your parent's caregiver,finally simple.
Built for families, not businesses.
When you hire an in-home aide directly, the IRS treats it as household employment — real taxes, forms, and deadlines. KinPayroll sets it up correctly, with your parent as the employer, handles the taxes, forms, and deadlines, and helps you capture the medical-expense deduction many families miss — when you qualify.
- Bank-grade encryption
- ~10-min setup
- No credit card
- 50-state tax estimates
- Built around IRS Publication 926
- Quarterly filing reminders
Hiring care for your parent shouldn't make you a payroll department.
Pay an in-home caregiver directly and the IRS treats your family as a household employer — with forms, withholdings, and deadlines no one signed up for.
The paperwork piles up
An EIN, W-2s, a Schedule H, state registrations — household-employer forms most families have never had to deal with.
The tax math is a maze
Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, state unemployment — withholdings that change year to year and have to be exactly right.
The deadlines don't wait
Quarterly estimates, year-end W-2s, a Schedule H at tax time — miss one and the penalties stack up.
The risks are real
Unreported wages can mean back taxes and penalties — and undocumented cash can complicate your parent's Medicaid eligibility later.
The payroll, taxes, and forms — handled.
Start free. Upgrade when you need to.
See exactly where you stand before you pay a cent — track payments, watch the threshold, and never miss a deadline.
- Log caregiver payments
- Track toward the household-employer tax threshold
- Threshold + deadline alerts
- The full tax + deduction calculator
- Manage both parents (mom + dad)
Paying cash feels easier. Here's what it quietly costs.
Paying a caregiver under the table is fine — right up until it isn't.
An audit.
Unreported wages can land back-taxes and penalties on you, the employer — and for fraud, there's no time limit on how far back they can look.
An injury.
If a caregiver gets hurt on the job, your homeowner's insurance likely won't cover it.
A Medicaid application.
Undocumented cash from your parent's account can look like gifting and delay their eligibility for years.
No proof.
With cash, you have nothing showing you ever paid — and no record to claim the deduction.
KinPayroll makes doing it right as easy as cash — with the clean records that protect you when one of these shows up.
Clean records protect your parent's Medicaid eligibility.
If your parent may ever need Medicaid to help with long-term care, the lookback period (often around five years) scrutinizes money that left their accounts. Cash with no paper trail can look like a gift and push eligibility back. Documented, on-the-books payroll is exactly the record that supports their claim — so paying correctly today protects their options later.
Medicaid rules vary by state and situation. For planning, talk with an elder-law attorney.
Built for how senior care actually works
The nanny-tax tools weren't built for an aging parent. We were.
- 01
Set up correctly
Your parent is usually the employer; you manage everything on their behalf. We get the entity right from day one.
- 02
Run payroll in minutes
Log hours, we calculate every withholding, and generate a clean pay stub each pay period.
- 03
Capture the deduction
We organize the year's care costs and generate a year-end medical-expense packet — so the deduction is ready to claim, if you qualify.
- 04
Stay compliant
W-2s, Schedule H, and deadline reminders — handled, so you're never left wondering if you're in compliance.
Not sure what you'll owe — or save?
Estimate your employer taxes and the medical-expense deduction you may qualify for — in about two minutes, no account.
Estimates only — confirm with your tax advisor.
What does it actually cost — and what might you save?
See your employer taxes and the medical-expense deduction you may qualify for. Two minutes, no account.
Your situation
Rough numbers are fine. Nothing is saved.
What it means
Caregiver wages: $52,000/yr
Your yearly employer cost
Plus $3,978 withheld from the caregiver's pay, and state unemployment tax (varies by state).
The deduction most families miss
You may deduct about $43,000 as a medical expense — an estimated
$9,460
in tax savings if you itemize deductions.
This only helps if your itemized deductions top the standard deduction. Many families take the standard deduction and save less — or nothing.
Estimates only, not tax advice. The medical-expense deduction requires itemizing and meeting IRS conditions. Confirm your situation with a tax professional.
It's not just senior care.
Anyone you pay to work in your parent's home is a household employee — and the tax rules are the same. Pick yours and we'll walk you through it.
Senior caregiver
Paying an in-home aide for your aging parent — the case KinPayroll is built around, start to finish.
Family member
A relative you pay to provide care. Some family wages are treated differently — the calculator helps you see your situation.
Learn moreNot sure? The tax calculator works no matter who you employ.
Coming from another payroll service?
Already with HomePay, Poppins, or SurePayroll? Moving your parent's caregiver to KinPayroll takes about 10 minutes — and at a flat $350/yr with no per-employee or per-transfer fees, most families save hundreds a year.
Switching from HomePay?
Save $550
per year vs HomePay
Switching from Poppins?
Save $238
per year vs Poppins
Switching from SurePayroll?
Save $118
per year vs SurePayroll
Start free. Pay only when you're ready.
Most families start by tracking payments — free, forever — and upgrade to full payroll once they cross the household-employer tax threshold.
Track payments for free — forever
Not ready for payroll? Log every payment, track toward the IRS household-employer threshold, and see exactly where you stand. You'll never pay a cent for tracking.
When you're ready to run real payroll — taxes calculated, pay stubs, W-2 and Schedule H — upgrade to Premium. Tracking stays free.
No credit card required.
- Log every caregiver payment
- Track toward the household-employer tax threshold
- Threshold + deadline alerts
- The full tax + deduction calculator
- Manage both parents (mom + dad)
Premium
Everything you need to run payroll yourself.
$35/mo
cancel anytime
- Run payroll + generate pay stubs
- W-2 and Schedule H, done for you
- The year-end medical-deduction packet
- Direct deposit — coming soon, no per-transfer fees
Upgrade in-app anytime.
Concierge
We set it up and run it — you barely lift a finger.
$129/mo
cancel anytime
- Everything in Premium, handled for you
- We set up the employer and file the EIN
- We run every payroll on your schedule
- We prepare and file your W-2 and Schedule H
- Priority support by phone or email
We onboard you personally.
For many families the medical-expense deduction is worth more than $420 a year — though it depends on your situation.
Advisors, attorneys & care managers handling multiple families — we'll set up the right arrangement for your clients.
- Bank-level security
- AES-256 encryption
- Secure data storage
Want to see how we compare to HomePay, Poppins, and others?
View our comparisonHowever your family shares the work.
Families
Coordinate your parent's care and payroll in one place — with both parents (mom + dad) supported.
Long-distance families
Manage everything remotely: log payments, run payroll, and stay ahead of deadlines from anywhere.
Advisors
Attorneys, care managers, and financial planners can point clients to a tool that gets household employment right.
Getting paid on the books works for you, too.
On-the-books pay means your wages can count toward Social Security and Medicare, and gives you real proof of income — useful for a loan, an apartment, or a mortgage. How it applies depends on your situation, so check with a tax advisor.
Everything to pay a caregiver the right way.
- Estimate in seconds
Tax + deduction calculator
Estimate employer taxes and the medical-expense deduction you may qualify for.
- Minutes, not hours
Run payroll in minutes
Log hours, we calculate withholdings, and generate a clean pay stub.
- Year-end, handled
W-2 and Schedule H
Year-end forms prepared for you, so nothing is left to scramble for.
- Claim it back
Medical-deduction packet
The year's care costs organized and ready to claim, if you qualify.
- Never miss a date
Threshold + deadline alerts
Know when you cross the household-employer threshold and when filings are due.
- One account
Manage both parents
Track and run payroll for mom and dad from one account.
- No transfer fees
Direct deposit — coming soon
Coming soon: pay your caregiver directly, with no per-transfer fees. Pay by check today.
Hours in, payroll out — without the paperwork.
A simple way for your caregiver to log hours that flow straight into payroll.
Magic-link access
No app for your caregiver to download — just a link.
Clock in and out
A simple, accurate record of the hours worked.
Feeds into payroll
Approved hours flow straight into the next pay run.
Common questions
Usually your parent. You arrange and pay for care, but legally your parent is typically the household employer. KinPayroll sets it up correctly so the EIN, W-2, and Schedule H land where they belong. Situations vary — confirm yours with a tax advisor.
Set it up right — in about the time it takes to write one cash check.
Stop wondering if you're doing this correctly. Start free, see exactly where you stand, and capture the deduction you may have been missing.
Free accountNo credit card50-state tax estimates
Not ready to start? Get our plain-English guide to paying a parent's caregiver legally.
Advisors (attorneys, care managers, planners): get in touch.