Dependent income under $10,000
My husband and I file a joint return, and we are claiming our 17-year-old daughter as our dependent. She is still a full-time student, but worked part time during the Summer for about 3 weeks. She is supposed to receive a W2, but her gross income was less than $2000 for that time period. My question:
- do we have to claim her income somewhere on our joint return?
- IF 'yes', then where/how does it have to be added? (I'm only seeing options for my husband and myself in the income section where W2s can be added)
Best Answer
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Hello Mountaingal! Those are good questions.
You shouldn't include your child's wage income on your tax return, which is why you aren't seeing the option in the software to add a W-2 for her. Rather, your daughter's income would be reported on a separate tax return, if she needs to file.
The IRS has a great tool that can help you determine whether or not your daughter needs to file a tax return. It is available here:
Generally, if your daughter's income is below a certain amount, she is not required to file a tax return (see Table 2 on pg 4 of IRS Publication 501 for the current year's income guidelines). However, if your daughter had any federal or state tax withheld, you probably want to file a tax return for her because she may get a tax refund.
If you end up needing or wanting to file a tax return for your daughter, you can go to our homepage, create a new account for her, and enter her information. Keep in mind that even if your daughter is filing her own tax return, you can still claim her as a dependent on your tax return if you are eligible to claim your daughter as a dependent.
Answers
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Thank you for this excellent explanation! It's very much appreciated.