Update. One of the contacts asked S if he could just pay one of his parents (e.g., me) through Venmo and S is finally saying yes, that’s fine.
So clearly, the contact would know my name which I’m fine with, etc.
And then I guess I will just keep track of monies I receive on behalf of S and then keep copies of those transactions for taxes. (And have our accountant view what monies S has made this year and act accordingly tax wise.)
Clearly, S responded better to the contact asking S to be paid via Venmo versus it coming from me. (Sigh. Murphy’s Law strikes again.)
My 17 year old and her friends all have Venmo (and reimburse each other if one buys food or they split a sandwich or whatever). Is it really true they have to be 18? I can’t imagine she lied; it would be out of character for her not to at least ask me what she should do in that case. She has her own checking and savings account, but my name is on them since she’s under 18 - is that the difference? I don’t have or know anything about Venmo; the only reason I even know she has it is I saw the charges on her checking acct and asked what they were.
Your son has to get over people knowing his name if he wants a JOB. A job requires a SSN and paying taxes (or at least filing as he may not make enough to owe anything). He could open a business under his user name, pay for the business licenses, file the required taxes, etc., or he could just have the businesses pay HIM. Paypal and Venmo won’t let him open accounts under a fake name or move money under a user name. If he had a venmo under the user name, how would he move the money for his own use, into his own bank account?
Rock stars and actors are paid under their real names (with their real SSN) unless and until they do a legal name change. John Denver was paid and held property under the name John Deuschendorf for years (his older kids have the last name Deuschendorf, he owned property under that name, he filed taxes under that name)
He should realize that its his security too. He does the work, he (john smith) deserves to be paid, not @cooldudewithgraphics. Him. He calls the guy and says “Hey, pay me @cooldudewithgraphics” and the guy says “who?”
He could also have a bank account and the buyers could make a direct deposit or a bill pay to the account. Old fashioned bank accounts still work too. My kids have had their same bank accounts since they were babies, and added the checking account features when they were about 15. I had to be on the accounts until they were 18.
I suspect if it becomes a real amount of money, the business is going to want to deduct the expense, and they’ll need a SSN for that. If they use yours, it will be your income unless you can untwist it. Why not just have your son do it the right way from the beginning?
Nope it’s 18. My daughter and her friend are sitting here and both acted like I had lost my mind when I said you have to be 18. I read them the requirements and my daughter’s response was “where are you getting this from?” I said the Venmo site and they both turned away and went back to what they were doing. These are rule following kids and they just didn’t want to hear it. It must be easy because they are definitely rule followers. I think I’ll leave it be. Anyway sorry for the hijack.
Love what you wrote. I will use some of it when H and I talk with him more this evening.
He might be open to starting a business now versus later (as you indicated would be helpful) but he wants everything done yesterday. lol.
But, I do see the benefits of what you wrote. Now to get him to recognize it, too.
Where/whom do I contact to start this process?
Accountant?
Or…… easier for now…like you suggested ?..can we bypass the business name, etc and just start with him asking them to write him a check and mail it to him ….that he then puts in his already established back account? (Assuming for all the reasons you indicated ge accepts the fact he has to give his name to make money and have a job.)
Good luck. It’s all a hot mess IMO trying to keep current on teens let alone all these apps for things like paying each other back. It’s odd to me that you have to be 18, too, Bc I see many kids who have been using it for years (mostly girls for coffee and ubers!) but just recently turned 18. I never knew it was 18 either.
You have to be 13 to have FB and other social media accounts too, but somehow everyone in third grade except my kids had them. The reason for the social media accounts is that there is a federal law about disclosures and to avoid having to deal with them, FB (and MySpace, etc) just set the age at 13. Kids just change their birthdates on the set up page. My cousin just turned 15 on Saturday and two FB notices popped up, one saying he was 15, the other saying 22! I think he set up an illegal account a few years before he should have.
Most states require a person to be 18 to be bound by a contract, so credit cards, bank accounts, or even buying property require the person to be 18 or have a parent sign. Otherwise, when the child turns 18 he/she can void all the prior transactions. Venmo and the rest are the same, and don’t want the users to void all the prior transactions and demand their money back when they turn 18.
Around here, Uber and Lyft do not ‘allow’ those under 18 to call for a ride, even if they are using an authorized credit card. They aren’t very good at enforcing it, but that is the official rule. They had a few cases of 13 year olds calling for Ubers at 1 am and going to friends’ homes, to malls, etc. The parents gave the kids a cell phone, credit card access, house keys, but it is Uber’s responsibility to not give them a ride?
He does not need to set up a business or get a business account. That would be needed if he were to pay his employees, buy business supplies, etc. For what he is doing now, he is perfectly fine to deposit his payments into a personal account. He can do work as an independent contractor and will get a 1099 form from the companies he does work for. He will have to file a tax return and pay self employment taxes, too.
He doesn’t need to set up business accounts unless he wants to be paid in a different name. If the business who contracts with him pays his hashtag or user name, where will he put the check?
My brother’s name is john but he uses Jack and people often pay him as Jack XXX. You can’t believe the grief he gets from his bank that he doesn’t have an ID that says Jack, that Jack and JOhn are the same person, etc.
Of course. But registering a business is not inexpensive (to a kid). I assumed mom will be able to talk him into giving the company his real info. Just a thought- maybe he wants to become the next Beeple?
Just have him use his real name and get a bank account where you are cosigner. He will need it soon anyway, and can begin handling a debit card with it. Many banks have high school kid programs.
You don’t need an occupational license but some towns (or homeowners associations) restrict home-based businesses in certain communities, or require a permit to operate (less likely if you don’t have a storefront and customers visiting). Definitely worth checking, though enforcement is very variable. Most common is a bunch of busybodies on an HOA who want to interfere with residents they don’t like.
He’ll file Schedule C as a sole proprietor. He could buy himself a new computer and deduct it for example. He’ll want a bank account. Probably not worth a DBA (doing business as) unless he’s internet famous and you want to protect the online brand. The required Fictitious Business Name registrations can be cheap ($26 in LA County for example) and then you can open a bank account in that name separate from his real name, but it will likely have fees that a kid’s regular account won’t. Having said that, business clients will typically ask him to provide a W-9 with real name and SSN.
Set up a Roth IRA for the proceeds if they are meaningful. There’s no age limit and since you can withdraw the contributions after 5 years, it’s a good way to put money away for college that won’t affect FAFSA.
Venmo is now adding fees like PayPal (who own it) for business transactions (1.9%). So it will likely become less popular going forward for that use. Still cheaper than Square though.
I know literally dozens of under 18’s with Venmo accounts. I guarantee none of them care that the age limit is 18, and Venmo (or Paypal) doesn’t either.
I am not an attorney, but it is my understanding that a contract with a minor is unenforceable (that’s why parents also have to sign all those forms) so it is against the terms of service for a person under 18 to have a Paypal, Venmo, etc. That’s not to say kids don’t do it, but do not allow your kids to leave any money in a Paypal account etc. Paypal can and has shut down the accounts of adults who started a Paypal account when they were underage for breach of contract and taken all the money sitting in the account.
That said my kids both had Paypals when they were under 18 just because we didn’t read the fine print and weren’t thinking it through. My D22 does a lot of stuff on Depop which only operates through Paypal, but she knows not to leave any money sitting in her Paypal account.
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