Are You Letting Your Kids Cost You a Tax Deduction?

Are You Letting Your Kids Cost You a Tax Deduction?

Accountant · Williamstown, NJ · Member since 2025 · 351 posts · 184 votes

One of the most overlooked strategies I see with real estate investors is this:

They have kids, they have real work that needs to be done in the business... and they’re not putting the two together.

If your child is legitimately working in your business, whether that's organizing files, helping with bookkeeping tasks, cleaning up a property, taking photos, or helping with admin, you may be able to pay them, deduct the wages, and shift income into a lower bracket. And now your child has earned income, which can open the door to a Roth IRA down the road.

That’s a powerful move.

But like most good tax strategies, it has to be done right. Real work. Reasonable pay. Good documentation. Clean payroll.

I’m curious how many investors here are actually using this strategy and how many have heard about it but never set it up.

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  • Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    6mo

    another tax dedcution for kids is the Coverdale $2,000 per kid per year, and they can be an infant not able to do any work.  (Otherwise known as CESA, 
    Coverdell Education Savings Account (ESA)

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