The PaprikaTax Guide: Jobs for Kids in Family Businesses
Running a family business is like running a kitchen — everyone can help, but the recipes change depending on who’s on the team.
Whether you’ve got young children, teens, or adult dependents, there are real jobs they can do that support the business, build their skills, and deliver excellent tax outcomes when structured the right way.
1. Why It Matters: Jobs in Small Businesses Are “Mix & Match”
Unlike big corporations (where jobs are siloed), family business jobs are blends.
Your “Administrative Assistant” may also:
▪️ Handle social media posts
▪️ Update a customer database
▪️ Greet visitors or answer phones
▪️ Do research
This “mix and match” reality means we can often split one generic job into its real components.
Using the PaprikaTax method, those components can be assigned different hourly rates — often yielding a higher average wage and a better tax result for the family. Our strategy yields higher tax savings vs. DIY or AI calculations. Try for free: app.paprikatax.com
2. Ideas by Age & Stage
👶 Young Children (Under 13)
Focus on simple, supervised, and repetitive tasks that build work ethic. This list is long and should hopefully spark some ideas.
Office and Organization Tasks
▪️ Stuffing envelopes & stamping
▪️ Manage office supplies, filing and organizing
▪️ Cleaning, watering plants, tidying up the office
Light Tech and Digital Tasks
▪️Naming and organizing photo files in folders
▪️Testing website buttons or links
▪️Typing short data entries or numbers from a list
▪️Helping format a simple spreadsheet
Marketing and Creative Help
▪️ Helping with “photo props” for marketing materials
▪️ Modeling in family business social media posts
▪️ Making handmade thank-you cards for customers
▪️ Decorating a chalkboard, whiteboard, or display
Packaging and Product Support
▪️ Folding brochures, or inserting them into folders
▪️ Assembling sample kits or gift bags
▪️ Decorating a chalkboard, whiteboard, or display
▪️ Sorting inventory
Customer and Event Support
▪️ Greeting visitors at family trade shows or open houses
▪️ Handing out flyers (with parent present)
▪️ Passing out water bottles, snacks, or promotional items at an event
💡 Pro tip: Even these small jobs can be legitimate if paid at a fair market rate for what a child could earn elsewhere.
👦 Teens
There’s a big difference in capability between an early teen and a late teen. Seventeen- and eighteen-year-old dependents can be tremendous assets to a small business—especially in technology and research roles.
Technology & Online Tasks – Teens are digital naturals. Channel that!
▪️ Updating website text or images
▪️ Editing videos or posts for social media accounts
▪️ Setting up online surveys or forms
▪️ Performing basic competitor or market research
▪️ Managing email newsletters (e.g. Mailchimp, HubSpot, etc)
▪️ Creating short clips or graphics in Canva or CapCut.
Administrative & Office Work
▪️ Managing spreadsheets or basic data entry
▪️ Handling mail merges or customer lists
▪️ Doing bookkeeping components such as expense reimbursement, transaction classifications and adding bills to QuickBooks.
▪️ Setting up appointments
Product & Operations
▪️ Assembling or packaging products
▪️ Tracking inventory or labeling supplies
▪️ Preparing order summaries or packing slips
Creative & Marketing Projects
▪️ Shooting and editing photos or short videos
▪️ Writing blog posts or product descriptions
▪️ Designing flyers, social media posts, or infographics
▪️ Helping monitor analytics or post engagement
Customer & Community Support
▪️ Responding to messages or comments
▪️ Running a booth or table at an event
▪️ Helping with customer appreciation gifts or outreach
▪️ Recording short “how-to” or “behind the scenes” videos
💡 Pro tip: Break “Administrative” into:
Note…
– Data Entry (low wage)
– Social Media (mid wage)
– Website Updates (higher wage)
This mix yields a higher effective rate than just “Admin support.”
👩 Adult Dependents (College-age or older)
Adult dependents can naturally take on more specialized, higher-value tasks. The list below, unlike the ones above, includes broader categories of work.
▪️ Bookkeeping support or expense categorization
▪️ Drafting marketing emails or blog posts
▪️ Customer service calls
▪️ Advanced Excel/Google Sheets work
▪️ Market research or survey design
▪️ Event planning, vendor outreach
▪️ Light design work using Canva
💡 Pro tip: Labeling work with precision — “Market Research” vs. “Clerical” — not only better reflects reality but justifies a higher pay rate in line with industry norms.
3. Why PaprikaTax Says: Break It Down
When you break down the job into its true responsibilities:
▪️ You reflect reality (what the child is actually doing).
▪️ You unlock higher wage categories.
▪️ You strengthen your compliance case if ever reviewed.
▪️ You create a better tax result (higher deductible wages to the business, potentially lower taxed income to the child).
Example:
Instead of “Admin Support” @ $12/hr for 10 hours = $120
Break it down:
▪️ 3 hrs Social Media @ $18/hr = $54
▪️ 4 hrs Database Entry @ $12/hr = $48
▪️ 3 hrs Research @ $20/hr = $60
Total = $162 for the same 10 hours
That’s 35% more deductible wage for exactly the same work — just smarter labeling.
4. How to Start
1. List tasks your child/dependent already does (or could do).
2. Break them into categories: admin, digital, research, creative, physical.
3. Check market rates using app.PaprikaTax.com – the higher the better (in most cases).
4. Document hours and pay just like any other employee. The IRS can look back several years and with the scale at which AI is being implemented, its a smart idea to make sure you’re protected now, in case of an audit.
5. The Big Picture
Hiring family members is more than a tax move:
▪️ It teaches kids about work and money.
▪️ It helps adult dependents gain resume skills.
▪️ It strengthens family bonds around the business.
And when structured the PaprikaTax way — with tasks properly identified and compensated — it’s also one of the smartest tax strategies around.
🌶️ Bottom line: Family business jobs are never “just admin.”
Break them down, pay them fairly, and both your family and your tax return will thank you.
– Written by David Nagy, CPA, PaprikaTax.com
PAPRIKA – “Parents Allocate Payroll Rationally Increasing Kids’ Assets”
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