Tax Benefits for Husband and Wife Owned Businesses

If you’re looking to diversify your business interests and are married, a good option is to start a business with your spouse. The IRS gives husbands and wives, who file their taxes jointly, the ability to treat a joint business venture as a jointly owned sole proprietorship. It would be categorized as a “qualified joint venture” but that means the owners must exclusively be husband and wife. Also, both spouses have to “materially participate” in the business (so you can’t just list your spouse and hope to get this tax benefit). There are many advantages to having a husband-and-wife-owned business...