
It’s Saturday morning, and that means two things: You get to sleep in and you’ve got a brunch to attend. Catch up on all of this week’s tech, celeb, beauty, kid, food and creativity news that went down Monday through Friday that you *might* have missed because you’re a busy gal. Make it to the bottom and you’re sure to impress all of your friends gathered at the brunch table.
1. Let’s Play Celebrity: Weddings, music, awards shows and more occurred this week for celebs. We learned that Allison Williams skipped the Emmys because she got married, and MTV’s Rob Dyrdek got married too. Need more celeb hot topics? We’ve got ’em. Lea Michele revealed her journal book, Kanye shared his dislike of 3D printing, Ryan Reynolds struggled with IKEA instructions, we got deets on Reese Witherspoon’s Draper James brick-and-mortar store, Disney princesses swapped with other Disney princesses and we recreated the outfits from the “Feeling Myself” vid for Halloween. Most important of all, Taylor Swift’s “1989” is back on Spotify thanks to Ryan Adams’ cover album!
2. Child Chatter: So much baby news this week! Ivanka Trump shared she’s pregnant with her third, Leighton Meester gave birth, Ashlee Simpson gave us a first look at her daughter, Kristin Cavallari hinted her third child’s name is canine-inspired and Tiffani Thiessen let us get a peek at her Star Wars-themed nursery. Other than all of those mini moments, we also learned details about the “real” Barbie, got a look at Restoration Hardware’s teen line, chatted with a kid’s app designerand discovered the latest (and greatest) social media trend, #PotterItForward. P.S. for all you Halloween preppers, we’ve got some maternity and infant costume ideas for you.
3. Tech Talk: The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have arrived (and an Apple car is coming)! Make sure you understand Apple’s upgrade program, and where you can get one for $5 (!!). Other tech happenings this week included the Google Science Fair, a Facebook “Dislike” button scam, a creepy Instagram update, the debut of block and unsubscribe on Gmail, Hillary Clinton emoji and Facebook 360 Video. We also got some interesting tech studies this week involving Instagram, Netflix and app usage. (Photos via Andrew Federman)
4. Style Session: Kendall Jenner got a nipple piercing, Hillary Clinton was turned into nail art, the man braid is a thing, Keke Palmer shared her ultimate lipstick hack and Hailee Steinfeld, Hilary Duff and Ariana Grande switched up their hair! Besides all of those beauty upgrades and trends, we also uncovered the secret to bold brows, what makeup to wear this weekend, the most wearable weird fashion trends, the beauty trends Brit girls love, why bobby pins are over, a 30-second makeup hack, the must-have product for silky soft hair, double vision makeup, a wedding dress that has been passed down for 120 years and how to get Olivia Pope shoes on a budget. This week also brought beauty news that puts you on the cover of Elle, a dress that 900 people are on a waitlist for, Netflix for shoes, a Reformation wedding collection, Stella McCartney’s lingerie line, a minimalist plus-size clothing company, a collab from Urban Decay and Gwen Stefani, CoverGirl’s selfie-ready makeup and soles that let you wear shoes without socks.
5. Breaking Bread: You guys, there’s now a selfie spoon! Yay or nay? Don’t worry, that wasn’t the only foodie find we uncovered over the past seven days. We learned that wine has many health benefits, while honey may not be all that healthy for us. Also, Starbucks introduced a new fall flavorandmobile ordering, while Burger King unveiled its multi-company Peace Day burger. We also got to check out a 3D printer for gummies, two handfuls of futuristic kitchen gadgets, the #1 rub for steaks and a super cool cocktail stirrer that turns anyone into a mixologist.
6. Creative Convo Starters: This week brought all kinds of inspo in all avenues of your life. Most importantly, you’re gonna want to become a bone marrow donor after reading our Community Editor’s first-person piece. Once you have a heart-to-heart with your pals about that, check out the most popular Halloween costumes (and these #girlboss ones), the self-rolling yoga mat, a bride who took her own wedding photos, insights into why you have job blues, how you can turn Legos into furniture and why Sweden’s six-hour work days work so well.
Let us know what your brunch pals will be discussing this weekend in the comments.
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