Yes, however you will need to use the EIN of the Sole-proprietorship for your W-9 and 1099's.
Corporations and Partnerships file and pay taxes on their income.
Then, each shareholder or Partner claims their distribution of the profit on their personal tax return.
This means the income is taxed twice.
A Sole-proprietorship is a "Flow-Through Entity" and the owner files Schedule C as part of their personal tax return. The business income flows to the owner's 1040 and is taxed only once.
A Sole-proprietorship can have only one owner, however married couples have the option of sharing the sole-proprietorship. This is referred to as a joint venture.
The advantage of having a joint venture, where each spouse files a separate Schedule C, is that the Social Security tax is split based on the income split and funds each person's separate Social Security Account.
If you are both assisting with the work of the Sole-proprietorship, split the income accordingly and file two Schedule C's.
If you do work completely different than your wife, and you only intend to claim what you earn via 1099, you could just as easily have your own Sole-proprietorship and file your own schedule C for that business. It could also be difficult to claim expenses that are ordinary and necessary on one schedule C if it included two very different types of businesses.
A sole-proprietorship has no liability protection, so keep that in mind if any of the work poses danger or risk.
**Say "Thanks" by clicking the thumb icon in a post
**Mark the post that answers your question by clicking on "Mark as Best Answer"
