In a family business does it matter if the family member deserves the pay being made if everyone agrees to the wage?
Also, if the person being paid is a spouse then the pay would be part of the household income and not just Mark's income. I'm not a tax expert so I may be seeing this wrong. JMO
If you're asking a specific legal question, I'm not the one to answer. I'm speaking only to TS' practice and if her husband/murderer was really doing all he could to help the family income - but it was HER business - and my answer is obnoxiously NO. He screwed her into the ground financially. There's also a difference between income from a paycheck vs income from the business.
People can do whatever they want with their money as long as as you give what's due to the IRS.
![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
. If she wanted to pay him 200k she could (if she could), but, you're right there are tax ramifications either way and that's why they should have had a REAL tax professional taking care of it. He controlled ALL the money and pinched it out to her as needed.
The word "deserves" is a loaded word :thinking: I don't believe she had a choice, he obviously convinced her to do what
he wanted. We already know he lied to her about so many things, I can easily believe he lied to her about tax issues of him getting overblown paycheck vs market rate and investing the difference in the running of the business. It's a circle.
I have no problem with people getting paid for the work they do, but his first interest was in himself and not in her business. Well, his interest in how well his wife did was only as far as it benefited him personally.
In many family businesses the families actually work together toward a common goal!
Not MS. Yes, there are tax issues involved and many times, the spouse opts to take a lower paycheck if any in order to facilitate the success of the business.
Mark's ego was more important than a healthy business model. He robbed Peter to pay NOT Paul and in the end, he screwed everyone including his children. Mortgaging and remortgaging multiple properties while still having to pay off student loan debt of $80,000, owing the IRS back taxes plus penalties, plus interest, plus a lifestyle beyond their means on top of that. She NEVER would have lived like that if she knew the full extent of is larceny.
"They" didn't make enough money for all the wheeling and dealing he was trying to do. He wasn't doing it right, lol. Not that it's ever right to do the wrong thing, but he even screwed that up.
He had a super sweet deal and they could have been a formidable couple had he an ounce of character.