The history
Named for the child star whose parents spent it all.
Jackie Coogan was the biggest child star of the 1920s — Chaplin’s sidekick in The Kid, millions in the bank by age ten. Then he grew up and discovered his parents had spent basically all of it. Legally! That was allowed then. California’s answer became the Coogan Law, and its big idea still runs the show today: a child performer’s money belongs to the child. In practice, that means a locked trust account in your kid’s name, where the employer deposits 15% of everything they earn — untouchable until they grow up. (Coogan himself later played Uncle Fester on The Addams Family. The money mostly never came back.)
The mechanics
Open it before the booking, not after.
Four states require Coogan-style accounts — California, New York, Louisiana, and New Mexico — and California’s reach is long: if the contract falls under its rules, the production will demand a Coogan account number before your kid works a single day. So open it BEFORE the booking. The entertainment credit unions (SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union, Actors Federal Credit Union) do these all day and know the paperwork cold; several regular banks offer them too.³
Good news: the 15% isn’t the whole paycheck — the other 85% arrives normally and can go toward the very real costs of raising a working kid. You administer the trust but can’t spend it; it unlocks when they come of age. One wrinkle: whatever the account EARNS (interest, investment gains) is your kid’s “unearned income,” which is where a thing called the kiddie tax can show up past a threshold.
The taxes
It's the child's income. All of it.
Surprise: your eight-year-old is a taxpayer. Their acting money is THEIR income — it never goes on your return — and it gets its own return with its own standard deduction. Here’s the fun part: payroll companies withhold taxes from child performers like any employee, and lots of low-earning kids are owed refunds their families never file to collect. Free money, left on the table, every year.
Your job is the paper trail: earnings statements from every production, checking that the Coogan deposits actually equal 15% of gross (verify — mistakes happen), tracking agent and manager commissions, and keeping any 1099 work (content, some print jobs) in its own pile — because the W-2-versus-1099 split matters for kids exactly like it does for grown-up members.
Coogan questions, answered.
How does a Coogan account work?
It's a locked savings account in your child's name that the law takes very seriously. In states that require one, the employer deposits 15% of your kid's gross earnings straight into it, and that money legally belongs to the child — locked until they come of age, with only narrow court-supervised exceptions. Parents run the account; parents cannot spend from it. That's the entire point.
Which states require Coogan accounts?
California, New York, Louisiana, and New Mexico (a few others have related protections). California's rule follows the contract, not your address — plenty of out-of-state families need one anyway — which is why productions ask for a Coogan account number before a minor can work a day.
Which banks offer Coogan accounts?
The entertainment credit unions are the usual move — SAG-AFTRA Federal Credit Union and Actors Federal Credit Union both offer dedicated Coogan accounts and handle the paperwork constantly. Several California banks do too. Open it before the booking: productions need the account details before day one, and scrambling for a bank account during your kid's first job is nobody's favorite memory.
Can you take money out of a Coogan account?
Basically, no — that's the whole design. The money stays locked until your child comes of age (18 in California), and early withdrawals generally take a court order. Remember, though: only 15% goes in the vault. The other 85% of their earnings arrives normally and can cover the real costs of their career and care.
Who pays taxes on a child actor's income — the parent or the child?
The child — surprise, your kid is a taxpayer now. Their acting money is THEIR earned income, filed on their own return with their own standard deduction. It never touches your return. The 'kiddie tax' you may have heard about only applies to UNEARNED income (like what the Coogan account earns in interest, past a threshold) — never to the acting wages themselves.
Does my child need to file a tax return?
If they earned more than the standard deduction, yes. But even below that, it's often worth filing anyway — payroll companies withhold taxes from kids like anyone else, and a young performer with a few small jobs is very likely owed a refund. Lots of families never claim it.
Their big break,
with the books done right.
WorkMade keeps a performer's money straight from the first booking — earnings, withholding, commissions, and the paper trail.
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