Milford chronicle., 1955-09-16
Farm People Are Asking
by Myren Milbouer
District Manager OF the Wilmington
Social Security Office

In my last article | described
conditions under which a family
arrangement for the operation OF
a farm could be an actual partner
ship or joint venture, where hus-
band and wife, or father and child
could each be considered self-em-
ployed farmers for social security
purposes.
There are other family farm en-
terprises that are also agricultural
self-employment. I shall describe
two of them widely prevalent in
farm areas throughout the country.
From time immemorial, farm
wives, and other members OF farm
households have engaged in farm
enterprises on the side. Egg mon
ey" is a term sometimes used TO
describe the income from such a
business because raising chickens
and selling eggs is often the source
OF this special income
If special activity like that is
really part of the general farm
enterprise, and feeding, housing,
and tending the chickens or other
farm animals are merely part of
the overall work of operating the
farm, there's no separate business
or enterprise In such case, the
member of the family who engages
in such work is not self-employed
but Is merely helping out the actual
farm operator.
On the other hand, If the farm
wife. or other member of the farm
20. tfvy = sxnf
ness wholly on her own, pays the
expenses involved. and keeps all
the income separate from that de-
rived from the other farm opera
tions, she is self-employed in her
own right for social security pur-
poses. However. merely doing the
chores. helping with the harvesting,
etc. doesn't make the wife or other
member of the family either the
farmers employee or a self-em-
pioyed person.
BY the same token, a farmers
son who engages in some special
farm work on farm otherwise
managed and controlled by his par
ent, this work being his own indi-
vidual enterprise, is a self-employed
farmer. This does not mean that a
son whose father gives him a calf
or other livestock to tend and raise
is necessarily engaged in a special
farming enterprise. However, If
the son undertakes a All or FLA
project entirely on his own, keeps
separate records. pays the expen-
ses and keeps the profits, he is
al 81 Fex1
that his father may give him all
kinds of free advice would not
change the situation so long as the
son has the right to make his own
decisions and act on them.
If the son has net earnings of
$400 or more in a year from activi-
ty he runs, such earnings will count
toward his social security. Under
the law, he must file an income tax
return and pay the self-employment
tax regardless of how young he is
and even IL his earnings are so
low that ne doesn't have TO pay any
income tax.
Some may ask what use social
security is to a youngster. 1t has
two early values. First, as soon as
young farmer has worked for
two crop years" under social Sc
curity, he is insured, which means
that in case of his untimely death
a modest lump-sum payment would
be made toward burial expenses
More Importantly, as soon as the
young man has a family, his wife
and baby would have substantial
insurance protection. which would
pay monthly cash benefits to the
young mother and child IL the head
of the family We're TO die