Raymond Hall, EA

Halloween is a good night to count the things that should have stayed buried. In a household with more than one entity, the usual ones are dormant LLCs that still owe state fees, payroll accounts with no employees, and returns filed every year out of habit for an entity that does nothing. None of them is frightening on its own. Together they cost money every year and create notices nobody expects. This post covers how to find the dormant entities and accounts in a household's tax life, what each one still costs in 2026, and the filings needed to close each properly. It does not advise on whether to keep or close any entity, and it does not address liability protection, which is a question for counsel. It is an inventory, with prices attached. What makes an entity a zombie An entity is dormant when it no longer has a purpose, an asset, or an activity, but it still exists on a state's records or the IRS's. Common examples: An LLC formed for a property that was sold year...

Families looking for senior household staff often work through an agency. The word "agency" covers very different arrangements. Some agencies find a candidate, collect a fee, and step away. Others employ the worker and bill the family for the hours. The difference decides who files payroll returns, who issues the W-2, and who the IRS and the state look to if taxes go unpaid. This post covers how the main agency arrangements are treated for tax purposes, what the household should get in writing, and the records each arrangement needs. It does not evaluate or recommend any agency, and it is not advice on how to search for or select staff. Contracts with agencies are a matter for counsel. The question the IRS asks For a household worker, the IRS asks who controls what work is done and how it is done. IRS Publication 926 addresses agencies directly: if an agency provides the worker and controls what work is done and how it is done, the worker is not your employee. If the fami...

Most of the advice about hiring household help focuses on the candidate. This post focuses on the household. Before a family adds a house manager, nanny, chef, or caregiver to payroll, a few questions about its own tax setup decide whether the first year goes smoothly. One of them is uncomfortable: whether someone has already been paid off the books, and what to do about it. This post is a readiness check for the household's side of becoming an employer: cash flow for taxes, who approves payroll, which states are involved, the record system, and how to correct prior years where household wages were not reported. It does not evaluate candidates and it is not employment law advice. It is a list to work through with your preparer before the offer goes out. Part one: the household's own tax setup Can your estimated payments absorb Schedule H? Household employment taxes are paid with your Form 1040 through Schedule H. A full-time employee at $80,000 adds about $6,120 of employe...

Households that hire a full-time employee often choose between someone who lives on the property and someone who comes in each day. The choice is about the family's life and the job. The tax rules treat the two arrangements differently, starting with whether the room and meals count as wages and continuing into overtime, state withholding, and what the household has to document. This post covers the federal tax treatment of lodging and meals provided to household employees, how live-in status affects payroll and the new overtime deduction, and the records to keep. It does not advise on which arrangement to choose, and it is not employment or housing law advice. Wage and hour rules for live-in workers vary by state and belong to an employment attorney. The starting rule: everything of value is wages Unless an exclusion applies, anything a household employer provides to an employee as pay is wages, whether it is cash or not. That includes housing, meals, a car, and phone service....

When a household budgets for a house manager, nanny, chef, or caregiver, the number on the offer letter is usually the only number anyone writes down. The real cost is higher. Employer payroll taxes, state unemployment, workers' compensation, benefits, and the cost of running payroll all sit on top of the salary, and none of them is deductible for personal household work. This post builds the full 2026 cost of a household employee, line by line, and lists the records that support each number. It does not cover whether to hire, what to pay, or how to measure the value of the work. Those are the family's decisions. It covers what the tax and payroll side adds, so the budget and the return agree. Line 1: cash wages Start with gross cash wages, including overtime and any bonuses. Bonuses, holiday gifts of cash or gift cards, and payments for extra events are all wages. If the household agreed to a "net" salary (what the employee takes home), the gross wage is higher, ...

The role that used to be called a butler has grown. A senior household employee today may run the homes, manage vendors, book travel, handle the family's calendar, pay bills, and also schedule meetings for the business the family owns. That mix is practical. For tax purposes it raises a question that has to be answered on paper: which employer pays this person, and which return deducts the wages? This post covers how to handle a household employee whose duties are split between personal and business work, what the IRS looks for, and the records that support the split. It is not advice on how to define the job or what to pay, and it is not employment law advice. It is the set of decisions your preparer and payroll provider need settled. Why the split matters Wages for personal household work are not deductible. Wages for work done for a trade or business generally are. That difference creates pressure to run more of the person's pay through the business than the work support...

A household that hires a household manager, house manager, or personal assistant usually thinks of it as a staffing decision. The tax system treats it as something else: the household has become an employer. That brings federal and state payroll obligations, a new schedule on the individual return, and records that have to hold up if the IRS or a state unemployment agency asks. This post covers what changes for tax purposes when a household hires a manager or other domestic employee, the 2026 thresholds, and the records to set up before the first paycheck. It is not hiring advice, it does not cover how to find or evaluate a candidate, and it is not employment law advice. Wage and hour rules, contracts, and immigration questions belong to an employment attorney. Is the person your employee? For tax purposes, a worker is your household employee if you control not only what work is done but how it is done. IRS Publication 926 is the guide. A house manager who works on your schedule, a...

Entities that once had a clear job tend to outlive it. A management company formed to run a family's finances, an LLC that employed household staff, or a holding company for a business that was sold can keep filing returns, paying state fees, and running payroll accounts long after anyone uses them. When the family decides to close one, merge it into another, or hand the work to an outside firm, the tax side has its own sequence, and skipping a step leaves a filing obligation open. This post covers the federal and state filings involved in closing or consolidating an office or management entity, how the move affects payroll and staff, and the records to keep afterward. It does not advise on whether to close, merge, or keep an entity. That is the family's decision with counsel. This is what the returns and payroll accounts need once the decision is made. Start with the inventory Before anything is closed, list what the entity actually has: Its legal name, EIN, state of for...

Many households give in the last six weeks of the year, often in a hurry, and often by whatever method is closest to hand. For 2026 that habit costs more than it used to. The 2025 tax law changed how charitable deductions work starting this year, and the rules now reward giving that is planned, documented, and matched to the right vehicle. This post covers the 2026 federal rules for charitable deductions, the main giving vehicles and how each is taxed, and the records each one needs. It is not advice on which causes to support, how much to give, or whether to set up a foundation. Those are the family's decisions, and the structure of a foundation or trust belongs to counsel. This is what the return needs once the family has decided. What changed for 2026 Three changes from the 2025 law (Public Law 119-21) apply to gifts made in 2026 and later: A floor for itemizers. Charitable contributions are deductible only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of adjusted gross income. A househ...

Many families hold an annual meeting about their finances. Whatever else it covers, one part of it can be both short and useful: an annual tax and estate document check-in. Thirty to sixty minutes, once a year, with the right people and a fixed list. The goal is not to decide investment or estate strategy. It is to confirm that the documents are current, that each person knows what they will receive and file, and that anything that changed during the year reaches the preparer and counsel before year end. This post gives an agenda for an annual family tax and estate document check-in, what to bring, and how to record the outcome. It is not a guide to family governance, and it is not tax or legal advice for any person. It is a structure for a meeting that produces a list of actions with names and dates. When and who Hold it in October or early November. Third quarter estimates are paid, extended returns are filed (the extended deadline for 2025 individual returns was October 15, 202...

Families sometimes build an education plan for the next generation covering investing, philanthropy, and family history. Those subjects belong to the family and its advisors. The tax and document part of that plan is narrower and more practical: what a young adult needs to know to file their own returns correctly, read the forms they receive, keep the records they will need later, and work with a preparer. Heirs who learn this early are less likely to miss filings, lose basis, or sign documents they do not understand. This post outlines tax and document literacy for heirs and young adults in households with entities, trusts, or several states. It is not a financial education program, it does not cover investing, and it is not legal advice. It is a checklist of tax skills, in rough order, with 2026 figures where they apply. Stage one: their own return Start with what applies to them now. Filing requirement. A young adult must file if gross income exceeds the standard deduction f...