Originally Posted by concerned42517:
So, I finally talked to my friend and she is telling me not to worry about it. She says the she is covered under her professional educator insurance and has a waiver for the family to sign. I asked her if her insurance and the signed waiver would be honored in the event of an incident, since she would be operating illegally. She says that in Massachusetts you can watch a maximum of 6 kids without license as a babysitter. That doesn't jive with my research but she is only watching the kids four hours a day, four days a week, so maybe there is a time distinction between babysitting and family child care? I'm now a little worried that she is going into this blind instead. Hopefully, she is right and I'm just being a condescending donkey. 
She would be operating illegally no matter how long the days or how many days she care for the kids. All it will take is a p!ssed off parent (and there is a lot of things that can make them upset) and she will be reported. They may just tell her to close and that is the only consequence, but the long term repercussions could be worse. If it stays on the record, she may not be able to get a license in the future. Her current daycare center may not rehire her because parent may cause a stink. Or the worse case...a kid dies or is seriously injured and her care is investigated and questioned. This happens to licensed providers as well, but being an illegal daycare doesn't help your case much
The tax stuff is probably not going to be a big issue if she has other income she is claiming through the year. However, I will always tell people to avoid dealing with the IRS anymore than you have to. This means filing your taxes. IF she is caught, she will not only be on the IRS radar, but she will pay those taxes back, plus interest, PLUS failure to file and failure to pay penalties. Those fees are what make back tax bills so expensive. They can put your tax bill in the thousands very quickly.
On a side note, are you a friend of hers or are you her parent? I am getting the vibe that her decisions are pretty upsetting to you and you need some support because you are worried for her. I think it is great to have people in your life who have your back and she may not appreciate it now, but hopefully she will understand your concern some day in the future. Childcare is such a crazy industry, imo. It is an age old practice (child rearing) and you think it would be as simple as watching some kids and making some money, but the liability of caring for other people's children is SOOO huge. The "what ifs" make you swallow very hard sometimes and thank your lucky stars it hasn't happened to you. Chances are, your friend will be fine and the summer will be uneventful, but all it takes is that one time and I am too old to take that risk
