Although Kaleigh may be a bit younger than the average office worker, she's representative of the thousands of children who work for their parents' companies for reasons economic and psychological.

Roberts, a multimillionaire, and his wife wants their offspring to learn the value of a dollar. And hiring his three kids isn't a bad tax idea, either.

Hiring one's children is a smart tax move for the self-employed or for people who have their own companies. It saves on income and estate taxes, and sometimes employment taxes too.

"It's almost good enough to make you want to start a sideline business so you can put all your kids to work," says Maggie Doedtman, tax research and training specialist for H&R Block in Kansas City, Mo.

After all, Roberts' company gets tax deductions for every dollar paid out in wages. Because he owns the company paying those wages also reduces his taxable incomeand shifts money that he otherwise would have earned to his kids, the ultimate beneficiaries of his estate.

Because his children earn the money, Roberts could choose to give them gifts of up to $10,000 a year to reduce his possible estate tax hit, assuming there is an estate tax when he dies.

Better yet, if a minor child is employed by his or her parents through a sole proprietorship or a partnership in which the parents are the only partners, his or her wages are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes. That saves the child and the parents a substantial amount of cash. If, however, the child is employed by a corporation or a larger partnership, the wages are subject to Social Security and Medicare taxes, though the income tax benefits remain the same.

Indeed, the net after-tax cost of paying a child $2,500 ranges from $1,100 to $1,500, depending on the parents' tax bracket, Doedtman says.

Moreover, if the child earns less than the current standard deduction for a single filer with no dependents, he or she will owe no income taxes on the money. If the child does as Roberts' kids do and puts all or part of the income into an IRA, he or she can earn the standard deduction plus the maximum IRA contribution-- more than $7,000 in 2002--before taxes are due.

What's the down side?

You must follow tax reporting requirements. And your audit chances are higher than average, so you had better be ready to prove that your child has a legitimate job and is not paid an exorbitant wage. That, naturally, can cause some grief with your progeny.

Roberts admits that he probably underpays his kids, particularly 12-year-old Kolleen, who serves as a backup receptionist, clerk and baby-sitter (when Roberts needs to discuss properties with parents of small kids). Kolleen isn't shy about saying so, either.

"The oldest heard something on one of the talk shows and came to me to say that she was not being paid properly," Roberts says with a sigh. Part of the problem is that Roberts doesn't give his children direct access to their wages. Instead, the money they earn is sent directly to savings.

"I don't think it's good for kids to have that much cash," Roberts explains. Nevertheless, he has started paying Kolleen an additional $1 an hour out of his own pocket to stem the griping.

As for the reporting requirements, there are two options. Roberts, whose company employs 80 workers, has a service company handle payroll. That's simple, but it may not be cost-effective if your only employees are your kids.

If you do it yourself, the tax reporting can be daunting. The child must fill out a W-4 for each year, stating that his or her wages are exempt from tax, if they are under the threshold. Meanwhile, you--the employer--must provide the kids' year-end W-2s, indicating how much they've earned. State governments also sometimes impose taxes and reporting requirements on parent-employers. Depending on where you live, you may have to fill out additional forms either annually or quarterly. Check with your state's tax authority.

Finally, the child may also need to file a tax return. Even when children are under the income threshold, they have to file a return if they have any investment income. Although that shouldn't be difficult if your child's income comes mainly from wages, it can get complicated if he or she has more than a token amount of investment income in a taxable account (usually more than $250 in anything other than a retirement plan).

Still, Doedtman says, "The benefits far outweigh the inconvenience."