QTIP Trusts, Explained: Claim the Marital Deduction Now and Still Control Where Your Assets Go
A QTIP trust claims the marital deduction under Section 2056 now while you — not your spouse — decide where the assets go after your spouse dies.
#family-business
Family Business
Guidance for family-owned businesses on governance, succession, and managing family dynamics
Hire Your Kids and Pay Less Tax: FICA and FUTA Exemptions, the Standard-Deduction Pay Target, and the Records That Survive an Audit
A parent's sole proprietorship can pay a child up to $16,100 in 2026 wages federal-tax-free — no FICA under 18, no FUTA under 21.
Supporting Your Aging Parents? The Tax Breaks That Offset the Cost of Care
Supporting a parent can unlock a $500 IRS dependent credit, head-of-household status, plus medical and care deductions.
Farm Succession Planning: How to Pass the Land, the Equipment, and the Management to the Next Generation Without Splitting the Family
Only 23% of family farms have a succession plan. Transfer management first, use LLC interests plus IRS Sections 2032A and 6166, and keep the farm intact.
Corporate Officers Must Be on Payroll: Why You Can't Take Distributions Only
Corporate officers who work in the business are employees under IRS rules — wages, withholding, and FICA apply even to sole shareholders taking distributions.
Bringing Your Spouse on a Business Trip? When Their Travel Is Deductible (and When It Lands on Your W-2)
Your spouse's travel is deductible only if they are your employee on a bona fide business trip — otherwise the IRS treats employer-paid costs as W-2 wages.
Your Living Trust Owns Nothing Until You Fund It
An unfunded living trust controls nothing — retitle real estate, accounts, and business interests into it, and back it with a pour-over will.
Hiring Your Spouse: How a Bona Fide Salary Unlocks Retirement Savings, Health Coverage, and Bigger Deductions
A spouse on W-2 payroll can fund a second solo 401(k) and pretax health coverage — if the IRS sees real work, market pay, and payroll records.
Selling the Family Business to Your Children Without Handing the IRS a Second Payday
An IRS Section 453 installment sale spreads the gain across your retirement, while $19,000 annual gifts and 20-40% valuation discounts move value tax-free.
When the Lemonade Stand Makes Bank: The $400 Tax Rule Every Teen Entrepreneur Hits
A teen owes a tax return at just $400 of net self-employment income — no age minimum. How the 15.3% SE tax, the $1,000 estimated-tax tripwire, the $20,000 1099-K threshold, and a custodial Roth IRA fit together.
Married and Running the Business Together? How the Qualified Joint Venture Election Splits Your Tax Filing in Two
A married couple co-owning an unincorporated business is taxed as a partnership by default, but the qualified joint venture election lets each spouse file a separate Schedule C and Schedule SE instead — no Form 1065, and both spouses earn Social Security credits. Both spouses must materially participate, and businesses held in an LLC or corporation cannot use it.
Financial Infidelity When You Run a Business Together: A Transparency System for Co-Owner Couples
Bankrate's January 2026 survey found 43% of U.S. adults consider financial secrecy at least as bad as physical cheating, and 40% of adults in live-in relationships admit to a money secret. For couples who co-own a business, a hidden card or debt also distorts pricing, payroll and joint tax liability — here are the bookkeeping controls, monthly review cadence and entity rules that make transparency structural rather than voluntary.