When you hire a personal chef, there’s a good chance that you’ll be doing it in a traditional employee-employer relationship. It’s one thing if you’re getting a commercially available prepped food delivery service, but a personal chef is more likely going to take your individual instructions in terms of how, when, and what to prepare and cook for your personal tastes. In other words, you probably control the particulars of the work and, thus, if you end up paying the chef more than $2,000 in the calendar year, you’re probably in an employee-employer relationship. You can read more about many of these details in this IRS topic discussion.
That said, many aspects of the relationship between households and personal chefs are open to interpretation, and there is a set of criteria that the IRS uses to distinguish between employees and self-employed contractors. More simply put, if you’re not sure if hiring a personal chef is going to count as an employee-employer relationship, you can use Form SS-8 to make an official determination.
The Cost to Hire a Personal Chef
Here’s the good news: You can probably find a chef you really like for less than you imagine. We strongly recommend you take a look at this story of hiring a personal chef for about $13/meal. Now, obviously, if you want highly specialized meals with top-shelf ingredients day-in and day-out and delivered on a rigid timeline, you’re likely going to pay more. Likewise, expect to pay a premium for chefs with any kind of name recognition—even if the person is only known locally. But that’s the point: While there may be something of a universal standard for employer-based filing requirements, it’s comparatively easy to customize the nature and the cost of the personal chef experience.
Don’t Let the IRS Stop You from Hiring a Personal Chef
Here’s more good news: Complying with employer-based filing requirements doesn’t need to take up a bunch of your time. With the software support from Advanced Micro Solutions (AMS), you can quickly and reliably take care of getting an Employer Identification Number (EIN) and preparing your I-9, W2 Software, W-4, Sch H 1040 forms, as well as any applicable state-based requirements for household employers.
Maybe you thought you could get away with hiring a personal chef under the table or that that sort of thing only applied to businesses. You should know the hassles are real and the penalties are stiff. Whether you’re just now about to hire a personal chef or you’ve already paid out the first few checks and you’re trying to play catch up, AMS has a software solution that makes it easy and affordable to handle these payroll and filing forms.
Get Started with AMS
It’s easy. You can buy and download our products at any time. Still have questions about which accounting software products are right for you and your household? Talk to Sales and Information at (800) 536-1099. Want to see our system in action before making a decision? Check out our free demo software.