I capitalized on my artistic background to create the Money Storyteller Method, a mindset and accounting tool for business owners that makes even the most advanced financial strategies easy to understand and fun to implement. Expect frank conversations about leveraging our most valuable assets - money, time, creativity, team leadership, and YOU!
Stop gifting your kids money
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Hello Reader, The number one mistake I see self-employed parents making? Gifting your kids money. Now you can do this without triggering gift taxes. The gift tax exclusion is up to $19,000 in 2026. But, what if I told you there was a way that you could pay your kids up to $16,100 a year AND get a tax deduction on it? Plus, your kids won't pay taxes on it either? You can pull this off by putting your kids on payroll. If you own your business as a sole proprietor (or with your spouse), you can legally put your kids on payroll without paying payroll taxes (as long as they’re under 18). If you’re an S-Corp, you can still do this. You’ll just pay payroll taxes on their wages. And if their total income stays under the standard deduction limit ($16,100 in 2026), they won’t owe income tax either. This is per kid. Some of my clients have $30,000 to $50,000 every year that they take off of their taxable income and make almost 100% tax-free for their kids' future. Now, legally, your child needs to be employed. So here are things an 8-year-old could do that you would give somebody else a wage for:
My absolute favorite thing about this strategy? You're teaching your kids about working hard, about entrepreneurship, and about earning, saving, and investing, all at the same time. Why This Is a Game Changer Think about it. You’re probably already giving your kids money for things like school trips, sports gear, and fun extras. But every dollar you hand them has already been taxed. What if you could keep that money in the family AND cut your tax bill at the same time? With this strategy, the wages you pay your kids become a tax-deductible expense for your business, reducing your taxable income. And since your child is in a much lower tax bracket than you are, even if they earn above the standard deduction, they’ll pay far less in taxes than you would. That means: 💰 Your kids earn money and learn financial responsibility, and nobody overpays in taxes. 📉 You legally shift income from your high tax bracket to their lower (or zero) tax bracket. 🏦 Your child can even open a Roth IRA and start building wealth, and it's completely tax-free! And these strategies I'm sharing aren't just weird loopholes. They are time-tested, legitimate strategies you should be implementing to maximize every dollar you earn and pass wealth on to your family. There are some caveats, though. This is not a hard and fast threshold, so it’s definitely something you should be reviewing with a tax advisor. Let's talk about if we can put this in place for your family.
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Hi! I'm Katherine, actress turned accountant
I capitalized on my artistic background to create the Money Storyteller Method, a mindset and accounting tool for business owners that makes even the most advanced financial strategies easy to understand and fun to implement. Expect frank conversations about leveraging our most valuable assets - money, time, creativity, team leadership, and YOU!
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