Farm Employment

In general, you are an employer of farm workers if your employees do any of the following types of work.

1. Raising or harvesting agricultural or horticultural products on a farm.
2. Caring for your farm and equipment, if most of the care is done on a farm.
3. Handling, processing, or packaging any agricultural or horticultural commodity, if you produced more than half of the commodity.
4. Work related to cotton ginning, turpentine, or gum resin products.
5. Housework in your private home on a farm that is operated for profit.

Workers are your employees if they perform services subject to your control. You are not required to withhold or pay employment taxes for independent contractors who are not your employees. For more information, see Publication 15-A.

If you employ a family of workers, each worker subject to your control (not just the head of the family) is an employee.

Special rules apply to crew leaders. See Crew Leaders, later.

Employer identification number (EIN). If you have employees, you must have an EIN. If you do not have an EIN, request one on Form SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number. Form SS-4 has information on how to apply for an EIN by mail or by telephone. Form SS-4 is available from IRS or Social Security Administration (SSA) offices.

Employee's social security number (SSN). An employee who does not have an SSN should submit Form SS-5, Application for a Social Security Card, to the nearest SSA office. Form SS-5 can be obtained from any SSA office or by calling 1-800-772-1213.

The employee must furnish evidence of age, identity, and U.S. citizenship with the Form SS-5. An employee who is 18 or older must appear in person with this evidence at an SSA office.

INS Form I-9. You must verify that each new employee is legally eligible to work in the United States. This includes completing the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification. You can get the form from INS offices by calling 1-800-870-3676. Contact the INS at 1-800-375-5283 for any other information. Internet users can go to www.ins.gov for more information.

Previous| First | Next

Publication Index | IRS-Forms Main | Home