Thanks for this thread ladies - I was going to post something similar tonight!

The reason I haven't gone down this path already is the employment legislative requirements around hiring a babysitter, nanyang or whatever you want to call them.

I'm no guru on this - but I do work in human resources and I have sought some advice from an employment lawyer and tax accountant. I've been advised that if I hire someone as a babysitter or nanny on regular hours each week in I guess what you would call a permanent part-time position, then they will need an employment contract a salary or wage that meets the minimum wage requirements, and they will also be entitled to paid annual leave, sick leave etc. Particulary if you want to have formalized rules in place as you've listed above (which I totally agree with and I think is crucial to making it work!).

This means someone has to pay tax on the money you are paying them, so they need to earn minimum wage and either you pay them PAYG (so you withold the tax and pay for them) or they invoice you by ABN and they take care of their own tax. Other considerations are superannuation etc.

What I really want to know is - is it possible to claim the 8k or 7,500k child care rebate towards a nanny - like you would claim it for daycare or child care centre?and if it is with a registered carer how do you go about finding out about this? Would it be the FAO?

Good luck sunshine - I've been procrastinating because it seems so complicated.

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