Private households hiring help face full employer register and payroll duties

A private individual who hires another private individual — a nanny, a repair worker, domestic help — counts as an employerEmta without registering as a füüsilisest isikust ettevõtjaEmta. The relationship follows Töölepingu seadus: the contract is in writing as a rule, an oral contract is permitted only for work of no more than two weeks, and actually allowing the person to start work counts as concluding the contract. Workers in such household employment must be at least 13. For tax purposes a private individual is an employer where they have concluded an employment contract with another natural person and pay remunerationEmta.

The private employer registers the worker in the Töötamise registerEmta. On every payment the employer withholds income taxEmta, calculates and pays social taxEmta, withholds unemployment insurance contributionsEmta, and — where the worker is an obligated person under kogumispensionide seadus — withholds the mandatory funded pension contributionEmta. The employer files the TSD returnEmta, and where it pays compensation for the employee's personal-car business use, also files INF 14Emta. TSD is due by the 10th of the month following paymentEmta, with assessed and withheld taxes payable to the Maksu- ja Tolliamet account by the same 10thEmta; car-use compensation is reported on INF 14 by 1 February of the following yearEmta. Wages paid to the employee cannot be deducted from declared annual income in the employer's personal return.

All employers keep register data current throughout the employmentEmta. Before the start the register takes the type of employment and the start dateEmta, with detail data such as workplace address, job title and working-time rate. Changes during the employment are enteredEmta, as is a suspension such as parental or extended unpaid leave. Fixed-term employment carries its end date; on termination the employer closes the entry within ten daysEmta and records the legal basisEmta. The basis must match the real reasonEmta — "Muu põhjus" is no substitute — because not every ground gives access to health insurance, parental benefit, or registration as unemployedEmta. A register entry alone creates none of those rightsEmta, but with the other relevant documents it can be decisive.

A foreign worker is registered with an Estonian personal codeEmta. Where the worker has no Estonian code and works for up to five days, the employer may register by date of birth and nameEmta; no social guarantees attach to such employmentEmta.

Temporary work during registered unemployment — tööamps — is assessed under § 11 of Tööturumeetmete seadusEmta: up to eight calendar days a monthEmta, with a single engagement capped at eight daysRiigiteataja, allowed in no more than 12 months of any preceding 24Riigiteataja, and pay per month and per engagement capped at 40 per cent of the year's monthly minimum wageRiigiteataja. The work is entered as actually performed, with a contract concluded, registration made and labour taxes paid normally; Töötukassa assesses whether the conditions are met. The register notifies workers by email of entries, endings, cancellations and suspensions.

Legal basis: Maksukorralduse seadus §§ 251–252, Töölepingu seadus §§ 4 and 7, and Tööturumeetmete seadus § 11.