Small Business Tip - Hire Your Children - Get a Tax Break
As a small business owner you may recognize the need to do more marketing on the internet, create a blog and keep up with your competition.
But where will you find the time? If you have a teenager in your household that may just be the answer! Hiring your children (ages 7 -18) has several advantages, especially when you are talking about the internet.
They are probably way ahead of you on social media and can help you set up a blog.
Let them do the research on article sites such as EzineArticles.
Give them the search criteria and keywords and let them go.
Have them print off related articles and then while you are relaxing you can review the articles and pull pertinent information for blog posts.
They can then type the information into your blog and mark it for future release giving you the opportunity to review the post before it goes "live".
This will benefit your children by helping them to see the business side of the internet.
You will also be teaching them about your business and what it takes to run a business today.
They could set up your Facebook page, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
One of the big advantages is that they can help you keep the jargon out of your posts and keep the posts at a reading level that everyone can understand.
Often we get wrapped up in our posts and can get way to technical.
Children understand the KISS principle much better than adults.
You can pay them for their services, put the money into a college fund or pay for sports activities, however, any money paid must be for the benefit of the child in order to be deducted on your tax return.
The great news is you don't have to pay employment taxes and your child does not have to pay taxes on the dollars earned as long as it is below the personal exemption allowed by the IRS.
A couple of notes:
But where will you find the time? If you have a teenager in your household that may just be the answer! Hiring your children (ages 7 -18) has several advantages, especially when you are talking about the internet.
They are probably way ahead of you on social media and can help you set up a blog.
Let them do the research on article sites such as EzineArticles.
Give them the search criteria and keywords and let them go.
Have them print off related articles and then while you are relaxing you can review the articles and pull pertinent information for blog posts.
They can then type the information into your blog and mark it for future release giving you the opportunity to review the post before it goes "live".
This will benefit your children by helping them to see the business side of the internet.
You will also be teaching them about your business and what it takes to run a business today.
They could set up your Facebook page, LinkedIn and Twitter accounts.
One of the big advantages is that they can help you keep the jargon out of your posts and keep the posts at a reading level that everyone can understand.
Often we get wrapped up in our posts and can get way to technical.
Children understand the KISS principle much better than adults.
You can pay them for their services, put the money into a college fund or pay for sports activities, however, any money paid must be for the benefit of the child in order to be deducted on your tax return.
The great news is you don't have to pay employment taxes and your child does not have to pay taxes on the dollars earned as long as it is below the personal exemption allowed by the IRS.
A couple of notes:
- You cannot be a corporation; you must be a sole proprietorship, LLC or partnership.
- The work done must be essential for your business.
Having an internet presence is essential in today's marketing environment. - You must pay them a reasonable amount based on the type of work done.
You can start with a lower amount while they are learning and then increase as their skill level and responsibilities increase. - You must keep good records.
Give them a paycheck the same as you would give any other employee a paycheck.
