The Conversation
Pizza all day every day, amirite? This (genius) thought process shouldn’t disappear in the summertime just because everyone and their mother wants to grill burgers and tacos. After all, there are plenty of ways to put a summery spin on your fave pizza pie. Think fresh produce, herbs, and grilled meats — OH MY. These 17 bright and beautiful pizza recipes are al fresco-approved, seasonal, and ready to be plopped onto your plate.
Barbecue Ranch Chicken Pizza
Topped with chicken and mounds of cheese, this ‘za will have ranch dressing lovers skipping the traditional tomato sauce. (via The Gracious Wife)
Vegetarian Summer Tomato Pizza and Basil Garlic Butter
With a simple homemade no-knead flatbread, this veg-friendly pizza is ready in a snap. Top it off with juicy cherry tomatoes, briny green olives, greens, and a creamy drizzle of cashew sauce. (via Kitchen Sanctuary)
Homemade Steak and Mushroom Pizza
This pie adds a gourmet twist with rare-cooked sirloin, mushrooms, herbaceous pesto, garlic, rosemary, and mouth-watering Gruyere. (via Elemental Custard)
Grilled Corn and Berry Hummus Flatbread
Crispy flatbread is smeared with a healthy dose of hummus, then decked out in grilled corn, blackberries, cherries, and pesto. (via Running to the Kitchen)
10-Minute Naan Bread
If you need a quick fix, this garlicky and herbaceous naan pizza will do the trick. Top it with a tasty blend of mozzarella and cheddar, and garnish with fresh basil for the ultimate summer vibe. (via Domestic Gothess)
Shrimp Scampi Pizza
Bring your love for shrimp and pizza together with cheesy and garlicky goodness. Thanks to the ease of a ready-made crust, you’ll be mowing down in less than 30! (via The Blond Cook)
Grilled Watermelon Salad Pizza
If sweet and salty is your jam, this summer-inspired pizza will completely *woo* you with its juicy grilled watermelon, roasted pistachios, leafy greens, and soft farmer cheese. (via Smorgaseats)
White Pizza With Spinach and Ricotta
This lightened-up pizza brings simple ingredients together while choosing pillowy ricotta over gooey cheese, and it’s AH-mazing. (via The Last Food Blog)
Barbecue Chicken French Bread Pizza
Channel your love for Hawaiian pizza and kick it up a few notches with barbecue sauce, tender chicken, and punchy jalapeños. (via Two Peas and their Pod)
Asparagus, Egg, and Prosciutto Brunch Pizza
The brunch Gods are looking out for us with a version topped with asparagus, salty prosciutto, and perfectly baked eggs. (via Love and Confections)
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Pizza
With red peppers, red onions, chopped kale, and feta, this recipe will have you choosing hummus over tomato sauce *every* flippin’ time. (via The Almond Eater)
Grilled Naan Pizza With Strawberry Chicken and Avocado
Bright and beautiful flatbread is covered in a mouth-watering mix of tender chicken, sweet strawberries, and creamy avocado for a pizza that’s perfect for the patio. (via Well Plated by Erin)
Caprese Flatbread
Inspired by the oh-so-refreshing Caprese salad, this flatbread is adorned with soft mozzarella, tomatoes, and fresh basil for one of the easiest dinners you’ll make this season. (via Bijoux and Bits)
Grilled Cherry Flatbread
This masterpiece can be an appetizer, but you can also eat the entire thing yourself — and with goat cheese, caramelized onions, cherries, and spinach, you’ll *want* to. (via What’s Gaby Cooking?)
Arugula Tomato Bacon Pizza
Peppery arugula and salty bacon make a great pair, especially on a pizza next to pan-roasted tomatoes and melty mozzarella. (via Nourish and Fete)
Tandoori Chicken Pizza
Tandoori chicken brings your traditional recipe to a WHOLE new level of awesome with mango chutney, onion, mushrooms, and mozzarella; serve with cooling cucumber and yogurt for extra *wow* factor. (via Sugar Salt Magic)
Strawberry Arugula Pizza
This puffy and pillowy crust acts as a perfect bed to strawberries, feta, pine nuts, and arugula that go on top; hit it with a balsamic glaze to be sent straight to pizza heaven. (via Feast and Fable)
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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