You clean houses or offices or do move-outs, you charge by the house or by the hour, and you may not even get a piece of paper at year's end. You are still self-employed, you qualify for the Marketplace and probably for government help. Here's how your case is calculated.
| Your situation | What it means |
|---|---|
| How you get paid | By the house or by the hour, often in cash |
| Do you get a 1099? | Sometimes yes, often no |
| Does it change anything if you don't? | No — you're still self-employed |
| Qualifies for the Marketplace | Yes |
| Cost of my help | $0 |
You're self-employed with or without a form
This is the most common confusion I run into. If you clean for an agency, they give you a 1099. If you clean directly for families, often nobody gives you anything.
That doesn't change your situation: you are still self-employed and you have to report what you earn. And precisely because you report it, you qualify for the Marketplace subsidy.
I've seen many women go years without insurance believing that "without papers from work you can't". You can.
Your income is easier to calculate than it looks
You have an advantage over other trades: your week repeats. If you clean five houses a week at $120 each, you have a fairly steady base.
The mistake here is different from the others: because there are many small payments, it's easy to lose track and under-report without meaning to. Write down each house in a notebook or on your phone — that's enough.
And deduct your expenses: cleaning supplies, equipment and the gas to drive from one house to the next. What counts for the subsidy is what's left after that.
What wears down people who clean
The damage from this work doesn't hit all at once, it comes with the years: back, shoulders and knees from all the bending and lifting. And there are no paid sick days to fall back on.
Health insurance covers the treatment. What it doesn't cover is you being unable to work for two weeks.
That's why this trade is a good fit for accident insurance, which pays cash for falls and emergencies, and critical illness, which pays a lump sum if a serious diagnosis comes.
You have no employer to cover you and no coworkers to run your route. If you stop, the household's entire income stops. It's worth looking at what would happen.
A question for your tax preparer
Self-employed people can deduct what they pay in health premiums. It's done with Form 7206 and carries over to Schedule 1 of the return. There's one detail that often gets missed: the deduction is reduced by the tax credit you already received from the Marketplace, so you don't deduct all of it.
I don't prepare taxes and I'm not going to tell you how to file. But I will tell you what to ask, because many people don't even know this exists. And the part that is my job — making sure the income we report to the Marketplace is right — that one is on me.
What real clients say
15 verified Google reviews
Do you clean houses or offices on your own?
We'll see how much help you qualify for even without any forms from work. Free of charge, in Spanish or English.
Message me on WhatsApp Or take the 3-question quiz ›Other self-employed trades
Every trade figures its income differently. These are the other ones I've written up.
General information, not legal, tax or immigration advice. For deductions and filing, consult your tax preparer. Omar Mendoza, licensed agent — NPN 21726482.