Last night marked the 2017 CMT Music Awards, and all of Nashville's finest were on hand, including Female Video of the Year star Carrie Underwood, fan favorite Miranda Lambert, and Nashville newbie Rachel Bilson. We recognize a few Hollywood faces too, including Jada Pinkett-Smith and Katherine Heigl, who also showed up dressed to the nines. Check out who wore what.
Rachel Bilson: The OC alum is making her debut as Nashville's new character, Alyssa Greene. The actress walked the red carpet wearing a sheer Rodarte blouse, a flared leather skirt with a lace cutout, and a double-wrap studded belt. Yee-haw! (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Jada Pinkett-Smith: The Wicked Wisdom band singer may not be country, but she sure was a winner on Nashville’s big night in this lavender Carolina Herrera column gown with asymmetrical floral appliqué. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Kelsea Ballerini: Her silky HANEY cutout dress with black accents was definitely a head-turner. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Natalie Dreyfuss: The Secret Life of the American Teenagers actress Natalie Dreyfuss wore a metallic Grecian-style Oscar de la Renta frock, delicate Vrai and Oro jewels, and matching mini gold clutch. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Carrie Underwood: The Female Video of the Year star ditched a full-length style for something a bit more flirty and fun, opting for this Elie Madi sparkled mini dress with a holographic fringe tier skirt instead. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford: The Today hosts were elegant and lovely in their shoulder-baring pantsuits and glitzy pumps (gold for Gifford, silver for Kotb), but their greatest accessories just may have been the wine glasses they brought onstage to present Performance of the Year while raising a toast to baby Haley Joy. (Photo via Rick Diamond)
Claire Bowen: Bilson’s Nashville co-star was a vision in her spaghetti strap tulle gown with its hint of peekaboo pink at the bottom and metallic sandals. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Josephine Skriver: Leave it to model Skriver to bring the heat in a sheer, of-the-moment Naeem Khan jumpsuit that had Music City USA sweating. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Nicole Kidman: Kidman was on-hand to support hubby Keith Urban with a slinky peekaboo lace Off-White frock (we die!), sleek blonde locks, and Fred Leighton jewels. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Thomas Rhett and Lauren Akins: Akins showed off her baby bump in a slinky green number. (Photo via Rick Diamond/Getty)
Miranda Lambert: David Koma is to thank for the “Vice” singer’s sophisticated two-piece look, separated by a zig-zag pattern at the waist and sleeves. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Leah Messer: The Teen Mom 2 star looked all grown up in a glam royal blue floor-length gown, pearls, and a beaded clutch. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Madison Iseman: The Still the King star was cute as could be in her baby powder blue Thai Nguyen Atelier dress that featured an asymmetric neckline, a thigh-high slit, and an unexpected black inset at the side. She paired it with a Rubeus Milano clutch and gold Loriblu Official pumps. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Katherine Heigl: Also on-hand to support her hubby, country music star Josh Kelley, was mommy of three Heigl, who was impossible not to notice in her uber-glam orange-red Lanvin frock with its ruffled neck and billowing sleeves. (Photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
Which CMT Awards look was your favorite? Tweet us @BritandCo!
Which CMT Awards look was your favorite? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Featured photo via Michael Loccisano/Getty)
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