Babysitting

[sarah666]

What are the legal/tax issues with babysitting?

Because obviously babysitters get paid cash in hand so theres no tax or anything paid on it?

[sudu]

i'm 16 and do babysitting there's definately no tax or anything when i do it - or for any of my friends but if you make a business out of it you would probably have to sort out tax. i'm not 100% sure though so what you the rest of you think?

[rjkh]

You should declare ALL earnings to the tax office. If you are babysitting regularly and making a substantial amount of money from it then it would have to be declared on your annual tax return.

If, like sudu, you are a teenager doing a few favours for friends however, it is not worth declaring. The taxman has far more important things worrying him than petty cash passed between friends!

[dzug]

As long as you are earning less than the single person's tax allowance from this and any other sources of income you are OK. It's somewhere between �4500 and �5000 a year - I can't be bothered to look it up.