NannyKeeper — Household Employer Tax API

What NannyKeeper — Household Employer Tax API MCP server does

NannyKeeper exposes household-employer tax and payroll operations through MCP. It covers employees such as nannies, caregivers, housekeepers, and babysitters in all 50 states and DC. Tax calculations include Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, state unemployment, income tax, and applicable local or state items returned by the API.

The server supports both estimates and account-backed payroll workflows. Calculation tools provide annual figures and derived paycheck amounts, while payroll tools can use employee records, year-to-date tracking, payment status, employer costs, and net pay. Read operations cover employee details, payroll records, filing registrations, pay stubs, W-2 downloads, Schedule H downloads, and Autopilot enrollment status.

How it works

The MCP process calls NannyKeeper’s hosted API using the account associated with the supplied API key. list_employees should be called first for account-backed payroll workflows because it returns the household’s employer_id and the employee_id required by payroll tools. employer_id can be supplied when one API key manages multiple households; otherwise the key’s household is used.

Use calculate_nanny_taxes for annual estimates and check_threshold for the federal FICA wage test. Use preview_payroll to validate an existing employee’s payroll without creating a record, then run_payroll to persist, approve, and submit it for payment. Payroll calls can return processing, funding, completed, or scheduled states. Omitted pay dates are selected using business-day and ACH lead-time rules.

Setup and configuration

Create a NannyKeeper API key at nannykeeper.com/developers/keys, then run the published package with an MCP client such as Claude Desktop:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nannykeeper": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@nannykeeper/mcp-server"],
      "env": { "NANNYKEEPER_API_KEY": "nk_live_YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Restart the client after adding the configuration. All plans include API access. Free access covers calculations and threshold checks; paid plans add payroll processing, document generation, and direct deposit. preview_payroll and run_payroll require a Starter or higher subscription, while Autopilot operations require a Plus or Professional key.

Tools and capabilities

• calculate_nanny_taxes: Estimate employer and employee taxes, including cross-state reciprocity handling.
• check_threshold: Check whether annual wages meet the 2026 federal FICA threshold.
• preview_payroll: Produce a payroll calculation without creating a payroll record.
• run_payroll: Create, calculate, approve, and submit payroll with year-to-date tracking.
• list_employees: Return employees, payroll readiness details, and the household identifier.
• get_payroll: Read one payroll or list the household’s payrolls.
• get_pay_stub: Return a PDF pay stub attachment for a paid payroll.
• get_w2: Return a short-lived download link for a generated W-2.
• get_schedule_h: Return a download link for an available Schedule H.
• get_state_filing_status: Read state registrations, obligations, agency names, and due dates.
• get_autopilot and manage_autopilot: Inspect or manage existing recurring payroll enrollments.

Limitations and notes

Tax estimates from calculate_nanny_taxes are not based on an employee’s existing year-to-date payroll records. Family-relationship and age exemptions are not inputs to that tool, and household-wide quarterly FUTA or state threshold decisions may remain unassessed. Treat a null action flag as undetermined, not as confirmation that nothing is owed.

Cross-state income-tax reciprocity depends on the residence and work states and, for payroll, the employer’s certificate attestation. Local taxes and state unemployment are not suppressed by reciprocity. get_w2 and get_schedule_h return links rather than PDF files; the family must generate a W-2 in the dashboard first, and NannyKeeper does not file Schedule H. Confirm payroll actions with the user, particularly Autopilot changes and direct-deposit submissions.