The 90th Annual Academy Awards are happening March 4, and while the performances were great, we are *stoked* for the red carpet! The Best Actress category this year includes a mix of newcomers and familiar faces alike, and we're taking a nostalgic trip down memory lane to look back on the style evolutions of each of the five leading ladies.
Sally Hawkins: The Shape of Water nominee showed up at the 64th Venice Film Festival in 2007 for the premiere of her film Cassandra's Dream wearing this black taffeta number with matching pumps and a mid-aughts-appropriate wide-waist belt. (Photo via Franco Origlia/Getty)
The 41-year-old actress has come leaps and bounds from her early onscreen days, but she's still unafraid to take risks with her red carpet looks. She wore this Dior Couture striped gown, which she paired with Irene Neuwirth earrings, a red clutch by Tyler Ellis, and Stuart Weitzman pumps to the 2018 SAG Awards just last month. (Photo via Dan MacMedan/Getty)
Saoirse Ronan: Ronan, who's nominated for her role in Lady Bird, was just 12 when she auditioned for her breakout role in Atonement. Here she is attending the UK premiere of the film in 2007 wearing an angelic yet age-appropriate dress and white flats with her hair pulled back. Adorable. (Photo via Dave Hogan/Getty)
At 23 years of age, Ronan is a veteran actress with over a decade's worth of credits (and THREE Oscar nominations!) under her belt. The Irish actress most recently stunned at the SAG Awards on January 21 in this pink-lilac long-sleeve gown by Louis Vuitton. And gone are the sweet ballet flats of yore; she paired her dress with some Christian Louboutin platforms. (Photo via Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Margot Robbie: Before we knew her as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, Robbie starred on popular Australian TV show Neighbours. The then 19-year-old showed up at the TV Week Logie Awards in 2009 wearing this high-low black and orange number that screams early 2000s. Anyone else getting a Halloween-y vibe? (Photo via Lucas Dawson/Getty)
Talk about a style evolution! Robbie looked absolutely impeccable at the SAG Awards in an elegant Miu Miu baby-pink gown with feather details. She kept the rest of her look simple with a silver clutch and a loose, wavy lob. (Photo via Steve Granitz/WireImage)
Meryl Streep: Streep holds an Academy Award record of being nominated a staggering 21 times, but her very first time attending the show was in 1979, when she was nominated for her role in Deer Hunter. She wore this black boho-style dress with flouncy sleeves and a chain handbag. (Photo via Ron Galella/WireImage)
Most recently, she's been nominated for her role in The Post, and she wore a sharp Alexander McQueen suit to the London premiere of the film last month. She also slipped on a pair of Alexandre Birman pumps and drop earrings by Lorraine Schwartz. (Photo via Karwai Tang/WireImage)
Frances McDormand: Dormand attended the 1989 D.W. Griffith Awards wearing an oh-so-'80s black blazer (check out those shoulder pads!), which she accessorized with a shiny brooch and a classic red lip. (Photo via Ron Galella/WireImage)
Nowadays, McDormand usually opts out of walking red carpets, but here she is attending the NYC premiere of her film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which garnered her her fifth Oscar nod, in November 2017. For the occasion, the 60-year-old actress wore a statement-making long red coat and a pair of black boots. (Photo via Rahav Segev/Getty)
Whose evolution was the most dramatic? Tweet us @BritandCo!
Whose evolution was the most dramatic? Tweet us @BritandCo!
(Featured photo via Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic, Karwai Tang/WireImage)
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