
Black Friday is great for some people. If you wake up early enough (and are committed enough to wait in line), you can scoop up some insane deals. As for us? We’re more Cyber Monday people. No matter what you’re looking to pick up — a specific item, discounts at your favorite stores or DISCOUNTS ON EVERYTHING — today is the day to do so from the comfort of your PJs behind a computer screen. But if your computer screen is getting a bit old, or you need to scoop up a gift for the techie in your life, here are all the scream-worthy tech deals to get on your radar today:
Fitbit Blaze: The wearable is only $150 (down from $200) today at Best Buy.
Fossil Q Marshal Smartwatch: The super smart watch costs $221 (usually it’s $295) at Best Buy.
Google Home: The most-talked-about smarthome product of the year is down to $99 (from $129) at the Google Store.
Galaxy S7 edge: Samsung’s favorite mobile costs $649 today (regularly $769) when you buy direct from Samsung.
Apple iPhone 7: For those hunting for the newest iPhone, T-Mobile is offering a free memory upgrade. It’s $100 off the 128GB and 256GB models, starting at $649.
Surface Pro 4: For those who have had their eye on it, today is the day to pick up Microsoft’s computer/tablet. For the 256GB option, it’s only $999 (down from $1,430) and includes the keyboard case.
Surface Book: If you’re looking for a computer/tablet with a little more oomph, the Surface Book is available today for $1,499 (usually $1,899) from Microsoft.
Amazon Kindle: Amazon’s got deals on all the Kindles. The All-New Kindle E-reader costs $49 (regularly $79), the Kindle Paperwhite now costs $99 (regularly $119) and the Kindle Voyage rings in at $169 (regularly $199).
Amazon Fire: For the tablet-seeker, Amazon’s 7-inch Fire Tablet costs $33 (down from $49), the Fire HD 8 costs $59 (down from $89) and the Fire Kids Edition is only $74 (down from $99).
Amazon Alexa: If you want to get Amazon Alexa in your home, today you can scoop up the Amazon Echo Dot for $39 (regularly $49), Amazon Tap for $89 (down from $129) or Amazon Echo for $139 (regularly $179).
Plox Levitating Death Star Speaker: For the Star Wars nerd in your life (or yourself!), there’s a magic floating speaker that looks just like the Death Star, available today for $144 (regularly $179) when you use the code 20rebels.
What have you already scooped up for the holidays? Let us know @BritandCo!
(Photo via Hero Images / 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