Sharing a nanny is easy
Sharing a nanny with another family can save you money but it can also be very complex, at Nannytax we have a team of nannyshare specialists who will help guide you through the intricacies and ensure that your nannyshare runs smoothly.
It's becoming increasingly common for two or more families to share a nanny between them, and currently about 20% of all Nannytax clients are in a share. This figure has been rising steadily in the last few years, and we have seen a dramatic increase since September 2008. We expect this trend to continue as nannysharing provides an affordable solution to the childcare dilemma, especially in the current economic climate.
What is a nannyshare?
A nannyshare is where two (or more) families employ the same nanny to either care for all children at the same time, or work, say 3 days for one family and 2 days for the other. Although it isn’t necessary for the families to know each other, some communication between them is advisable; in fact lack of communication is one of the main reasons it can take a long time to set up a share or why they sometimes fail altogether.
Agree a gross and protect your total cost
Nannytax recommends that all pay arrangements are made on a gross basis. There are many reasons why you should do this, and to read more about the down-sides of agreeing a net wage click here. It's especially important to agree a gross wage if you are in a nannyshare. A gross pay agreement will automatically protect your total cost, and so it doesn’t matter if the current share dissolves or if you fall out. If you agree a gross wage the communication between you and the other family can also be kept to a minimum.
Tax code splits
If you have agreed a net wage with your nanny Nannytax recommends that her tax code is split. A tax code split means that the nanny's tax code is split proportionately between her jobs. It is a very straight-forward exercise, mainly because our nannyshare team deals directly with a tax code specialist at our dedicated tax office, but before a tax code split can be applied we need approval from the nanny.
How does it work?
- Both employers submit the details of the share arrangement to our nannyshare team
- We then send a letter to the nanny outlining the arrangement and the proposed tax code split, which nanny needs to sign and return to us
- Once we have received nanny's approval we fax the request to our specialist at the tax office
- The new tax codes are normally notified to us within 48 hours
