
Four little liars can’t keep a secret forever. And this is why, sadly, Pretty Little Liars fans across the globe, including super fan and four-time gold medalist, Simone Biles are grimacing at the fact that season seven of Pretty Little Liars will most likely be the last. PLL fans, don’t despair. Throwing a PLL series wrap party for you and your girl squad is the next best thing to finally figuring out who A is. You’d better believe there are still plenty of dark, dangerous and devious shadows lurking in Rosewood for the pretty liars to unmask and for us all to tweet about! They are going to reveal who all of the As, backup As and A-related secrets are… right? Before anything funny happens, let’s start this Pretty Little Wrap Up Party. It’s time to bring your A game!
1. An A Message: “Beep!” goes your phone as your heart sinks to your knee caps and you look down to see not a text from A (total sigh of relief), but instead a text from your bestie about these awesome DIY graphic donuts. They are perfect for recreating notes written by the anonymous and scary villain, A. You’ll be able to gobble these messages up in one bite. Take that, A! (via Studio DIY)
2. Only in Rosewood: Rosewood may be the only town where four pretty young ladies stumble upon crime scene after crime scene, body after body and witch hunt after witch hunt. When planning your PLL finale bash, incorporate the picturesque yet terrifying town known as Rosewood! It’s totally acceptable to be inspired by Halloween silhouettes and things that go bump in the night. (via Oh Joy!)
3. Forensic Decor: The world of PLL, aside from its always on-point fashion, is a little dark. Okay, it’s *a lot* dark. The classic character of A running around in his/her/its black hoodie and gloves uniform is as iconic as the show’s opening tune. Be sure to create a few “Missing Girl” posters for your party. Want to get really crafty? Instead of putting Alison’s picture on the posters, put your friends’ faces on them. (via BuzzFeed)
4. A Piece of Cake: A is known for his/her/its ingenious ways of sending Hannah, Aria, Spencer and Emily cryptic messages. This darling little cake looks harmless on the outside — that is, until you and your guests want a slice. While this cake doesn’t bite, there are no promises that A doesn’t. (via Popsugar)
5. Ice-ScreAm Floats: More than likely, the show’s finale will have you screaming into your pillows as all of Rosewood’s secrets are revealed (fingers crossed). So an ice cream float will quench your parched palette. Instead of a plain old ice cream float, let’s call it an ice ScreAm float with a hidden motive. Giggles, -A. (via Sugar and Cloth)
6. Girl Squad Balloons: PLL wouldn’t have been such a runaway hit if it wasn’t for the show’s four main characters’ friendship. Hanna, Aria, Spencer and Emily are the definition of girl squad. Truly, their bond is so tight that T-Swift needs to fill out an application to join. (via Studio DIY)
7. For Your BFFs: Commemorate the evening by gifting your gal pals these DIY wax BFF necklaces to pledge allegiance to each other’s friendship. You’ll totally feel like Ali in season one when she gave the girls matching purple beaded bracelets. (via Aww, Sam)
8. A Is Watching: Does it ever feel like you’re being watched? Tell it to Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily. If not A, someone from Team A most definitely is. Create a creepily hilarious concept of A watching you watch the finale of Pretty Little Liars with googly eyes. Just remember to sleep with one eye open, pretties. (via Oh Happy Day).
9. Loverlyphoto Pretty Little Print ($18): Incorporating fun fan art into your PLL view party is a sweet way to end the series and have something as a keepsake from then after.
10. Chill Pills: After the final scene airs on PLL, you and your pals are going to need some chill pills in the form of sweet sugary sprinkles iced to A perfection! (via Oh Happy Day)
11. Parting Favors: The tears have fallen, the girls have (hopefully) silenced the A Team for the final time and you’re coming to terms with your favorite show ending. Before you and your pals fall in a show hole, give away these pretty monogrAmmed glass flower jars you had decorating your goodbye party. A always had a thing for presents. (via A Bubbly Life)
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Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures