One of the advantages of someone running their own business is hiring family members. But when including family members in business operations, certain tax treatments and employment tax rules apply. Here are some facts to know when working with a spouse, parent or child.

Both spouses carrying on the trade or business

If spouses carry on a business together and share in the profits and losses, they may be partners whether or not they have a formal partnership agreement. If so, they should report income or loss from the business on Form 1065. They should not report the income on a Schedule C (Form 1040) in the name of one spouse as a sole proprietor. But, the spouses can elect not to treat the joint venture as a partnership by making a qualified joint venture election. 

Qualified joint venture

Spouses may elect treatment as a qualified joint venture instead of a partnership. A qualified joint venture conducts a trade or business where:

• The only members are a married couple who file a joint return,
• Both spouses materially participate in the trade or business, and
• Both spouses elect not to be treated as a partnership.

Only businesses owned and operated by spouses as co-owners and not in the name of a state law entity, such as a limited partnership or limited liability company, are eligible for the qualified joint venture election. Find more information on joint ventures in Publication 541, Partnerships.

Spouses electing qualified joint venture status are sole proprietors for federal tax purposes. Each spouse must file a separate Schedule C to report their share of profits and losses. They don’t need an EIN unless their sole proprietorship must file excise, employment, alcohol, tobacco or firearms returns. One spouse cannot continue to use the partnership’s Employer Identification Number (EIN) for the qualified joint venture. The EIN must stay with the partnership; it’s used by the partnership for any year in which the business doesn’t meet qualified joint venture requirements.

Employment taxes

If the business has employees, either of the spouses as sole proprietors may report and pay the employment taxes. The spouse, as an employer, must have an EIN for their sole proprietorship. If the business filed or paid employment taxes for part of the year under the partnership’s EIN, the spouse may be considered the employee’s “successor employer” for purposes of figuring whether wages reached the Social Security and federal unemployment wage base limits.
 
One spouse employed by another. The wages for the services of an individual who works for their spouse are subject to income tax withholding and Social Security and Medicare taxes but not to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA).

Child employed by parents. Payments for the services of a child under age 18 aren’t subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, if the business is a sole proprietorship or a partnership in which each partner is a parent of the child. Payments to a child under age 21 aren’t subject to FUTA. Payments are subject to income tax withholding, regardless of the child’s age.

Payments for the services of a child are subject to income tax withholding as well as Social Security, Medicare and FUTA taxes if they work for:

• A corporation, even if it’s controlled by the child’s parent, or
• A partnership, even if the child’s parent is a partner, unless each partner is a parent of the child.

Parent employed by child. The wages for the services of a parent employed by their child are subject to income tax withholding and Social Security and Medicare taxes. They’re not subject to FUTA tax.

Employees complete Form W-4 so that their employer can withhold the correct federal income tax from their pay. The IRS encourages everyone to use the Tax Withholding Estimator to help them make sure they have the right amount of tax withheld from their paycheck. The estimator automatically links to Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, which they can then fill out and submit to their employer.

More information:

• Election for Married Couples Unincorporated Businesses
• Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business
• Publication 15, Circular E, Employer Tax Guide
• Publication 51, Circular A, Agricultural Employer’s Tax Guide
• Publication 541, Partnerships

Now that fall is here and school has started, many teachers are dipping into their own pockets to buy classroom supplies. Doing this throughout the year can add up fast. Fortunately, eligible educators may be able to defray qualified expenses they paid in 2019 when they file their tax return in 2020.

Educators who work in schools may qualify to deduct up to $250 of unreimbursed expenses. That amount goes up to $500 if two qualified educators are married and file a joint return. However, neither spouse can deduct more than $250 of his or her qualified expenses when they file.

Taxpayers qualify for this deduction if they:

• Teach any grade from kindergarten through twelfth grade. 
• Are a teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide.
• Work at least 900 hours during the school year.
• Work in a school that provides elementary or secondary education.

Qualified expenses include:

• Professional development courses.
• Books.
• Supplies.
• Computer equipment including related software and services.
• Supplementary materials.
• Athletic supplies only for health and physical education.

Eligible taxpayers can claim this deduction when they file their taxes. The IRS encourages teachers to consider using tax software to help guide them through the process of claiming the deduction.

Many teachers may qualify to use online software for free with IRS Free File.

More information:
Topic No. 458 Educator Expense Deduction

Share this tip on social media — #IRSTaxTip: What teachers should know about deducting out-of-pocket classroom expenses. https://go.usa.gov/xVvjk

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WASHINGTON — The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service today issued Revenue Procedure 2019-40 and proposed regulations that provides relief to certain U.S. persons that own stock in certain foreign corporations.

The Revenue Procedure limits the inquiries required by U.S. persons to determine whether certain foreign corporations are controlled foreign corporations (“CFCs”). The Revenue Procedure also allows certain unrelated minority U.S. shareholders to rely on specified financial statement information to calculate their subpart F and GILTI inclusions and satisfy reporting requirements with respect to certain CFCs if more detailed tax information is not available. It also provides penalty relief to taxpayers in the specified circumstances. 

Finally, the Revenue Procedure announces that the IRS intends to amend the instructions for Form 5471 to reduce the amount of information that certain unrelated minority U.S. shareholders of the CFC are required to provide. It will also limit the filing requirements of U.S. shareholders who only constructively own stock of the CFC solely due to downward attribution from another person.

The proposed regulations provide additional relief to taxpayers affected by the repeal of section 958(b)(4). These regulations also propose modifications to existing regulations that are intended to ensure, in certain appropriate circumstances, that the operation of certain rules is consistent with their application before the repeal of section 958(b)(4). 

The repeal of section 958(b)(4) was part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. For more information about this and other TCJA provisions, visit IRS.gov/taxreform.

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