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Hiring your minor children this summer? Reap tax and nontax benefits

If you’re a business owner and you hire your children this summer, you can obtain tax breaks and other nontax benefits. The kids can gain on-the-job experience, spend time with you, save for college and learn how to manage money. And you may be able to:

Shift your high-taxed income into tax-free or low-taxed income,
Realize payroll tax savings (depending on the child’s age and how your business is organized), and
Enable retirement plan contributions for the children.

Many parents will receive advance tax credit payments beginning July 15

Eligible parents will soon begin receiving payments from the federal government. The IRS announced that the 2021 advance child tax credit (CTC) payments, which were created in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), will begin being made on July 15, 2021.

How have child tax credits changed?

The ARPA temporarily expanded and made CTCs refundable for 2021. The law increased the maximum CTC — for 2021 only — to $3,600 for each qualifying child under age 6 and to $3,000 per child for children ages 6 to 17, provided their parents’ income is below a certain threshold.