<p>I worked as a lifeguard for a waterpark during the summer of May 2013-September 2013. I only earned about $1,500 the whole summer. Should I be expecting something to come in the mail from regarding taxes? How will this affect filling out the fafsa?</p>
<p>You should be receiving a W-2 around the end of January/beginning of February showing your earned income. When completing the FAFSA you will enter amounts for 2013 earned income and current value of assets (savings/checking account(s) for example).</p>
<p>[Do</a> You Need to File a Federal Income Tax Return?](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Do-You-Need-to-File-a-Federal-Income-Tax-Return%3F]Do”>http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Do-You-Need-to-File-a-Federal-Income-Tax-Return%3F)</p>
<p>Use this to first determine if you need to file a tax return.</p>
<p>You might not be require to file a return. BUT if your employer withheld income taxes (federal and state) you very well might want to file to get a refund.</p>
<p>If all you worked was that one job, you can likely do a 1040EZ which will take all of five minutes to complete once you have the info from your job. In addition, you likely can free file. Go to the IRS.gov website and look on the menu for freefile.</p>
<p>With income of that figure, it isn’t going to affect your FAFSA EFC. But if you have money stashed somewhere, like in a checking/savings accoutn, 20% of that will be added to your EFC. Get a joint acct set up with a parent, with his/her name/ssn first and reimburse parent for expenses over the year, so that the asset is under the parent’s section of FAFSA where it is subject to the protection allowance and 5.6% over that.</p>
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<p>I’ve read several other posts of yours in which you’ve given similar advice, and I feel compelled to speak up (perhaps against my better judgment) and say that, in my opinion, such a course of action would be unethical. There is no legal, moral or ethical duty for a minor dependent child to reimburse a parent for normal living expenses. If a child wouldn’t normally do so, then arranging for it to be done in order to gain an advantage in applying for financial aid is wrong. Also, a dependent child, regardless of age, who “reimburses” a parent for enough “living expenses” over the course of a year may very well in the process no longer qualify as a dependent under IRS definitions, which can open a big can of tax worms.</p>