<p>Hey,</p>
<p>I know that under a certain threshold, you don't have to file taxes. I claim exempt because I am a minor and full-time student considered a dependent under my mom, so I paid no federal income tax in 2009 (i.e., I won't get a tax return). I made $5507 this year. Do I have to file a tax return? What is the cut off for filing a tax return?</p>
<p>Thanks,
applicannot</p>
<p>First of all you don’t “get a tax return”. If you have enough income to be required to file then you have to do the return. If you earned the $5507 from a job you should have received a W2 for it. If that is your only income then you are under the threshold which is $5700 for 2009. However if you have any unearned income the threshold may be lower. And if you have any taxable scholarships/grants then you may go over the threshold and have to file.</p>
<p>Okay, great. I won’t have to file. I couldn’t find the threshold for this year, only for last year. I got a tax return last year, so I guess I don’t know what you mean. For the first three pay checks, I had federal income tax deducted wrongfully (my forms weren’t changed yet) so I filed last year and got back like $40. I don’t have any unearned income and I don’t have any scholarships until next year. If I get grants from a school for tuition and room and board, is that taxable? I should hope not, and I don’t think they are, but I better start taking out loans now if I’m going to owe taxes on $50,000 a year!</p>
<p>Scholarships are not taxable when they are used to pay for tuition and fees. They are taxable when used to pay for other expenses such as room and board.</p>
<p>I don’t understand what you mean by “you got a tax return”. When you have income from a job you are sent a form called a W2 (for each job). You use the W2s (and any other tax forms such as 1099s) to complete and file your tax return. You will get a 1098 from school next year and will have to file taxes for any scholarships/grants used for expenses other than tuition and fees.</p>
<p>I filed my taxes and got a check from the government. My mom does the same thing to get her tax refund check.</p>
<p>The tax return is the tax form you fill out. When you file your taxes you are filing a tax return. The money you get back when you have overpaid is a tax refund.</p>
<p>Sorry to highjack the thread - swimcatsmom I have a question - S earned under $5K and received a 1099, he is a dependent, full-time student, has no other unearned income or taxable scholarships - does this mean we do not need to declare this $ on our federal taxes? I’m kind of assuming this might be taxed on the state level at least.</p>
<p>No he does not have to file. The filing threshold for a single dependent is $5700. You do not report his income on your taxes (unless you actually like to pay extra taxes 
). </p>
<p>It will depend on your State for state taxes. Our state you only have to file State if you had to file federal. I am sure this varies from state to state. Oh if he earned it in the state he goes to school in make sure you check the rules there as well as your home State. My daughter worked for the summer in a State that does not have State income tax so thought she would have no State liability on that income. But our State requires residents to report all their income :(</p>
<p>swimcatsmom - thanks! I read your answer out loud to H who I think wanted to pay extra taxes:) I’ve had a hard time convincing him this was the case but he believes you! I’ll follow up on our state’s rules.</p>
<p>In this case, swimcatsmom may be mistaken. If your son actually received a 1099 (considered self employed or an independent contractor) and not a W-2 then he does need to file. He would not owe any income tax, but he does need to pay the self employment tax on that money. Sorry.</p>
<p>P.S. I think applicannot is just using the wrong terminology when he says “tax return”. I believe he means “tax refund”.</p>
<p>3bm103 - then his income would be included in ours if we added his 1099 - we did a practice run on the taxes and there wasn’t any option with the 1099 other than to add it as our income. There is no option to add the 1099 for self employment tax for a dependent. This does not make sense to me.</p>
<p>Not even my tax expert friend seems to know what to do on this so I thought I would appeal to the larger CC crowd, though I’m sorry for stepping on your thread applicanot.</p>
<p>I didn’t even catch that it was a 1099. Sorry about that (in more ways than one, mainly the self employment tax part). I am pretty sure a dependent can file their own return using a 1099 though. I don’t have time to look it all up right now though. Doesn’t it depend on what type of 1099 it was as far as the self employed tax? They are a bunch of different 1099s (for interest, dividends, SS, etc etc) and each has a different tax impact or requirement. Was he self employed?</p>
<p>Not only can a dependent file his own return for 1099 income, he has to. Doesn’t much matter (except for self employment tax) whether the 1099 was for interest, dividends or misc income. If it’s for unearned income, then it’s over the standard deduction. If it’s earned, then it’s under but he pays self employment tax. </p>
<p>Your son needs to file his own return and claim the 1099 income on it. He will still be your dependent so he can’t take his own exemption, but he does get the standard deduction.</p>
<p>No, he worked for a company. He is not considered an employee as it was summer work. I am considered self employed though I work for one company and file a 1099 but as he is a dependent it doesn’t make sense to me to include this as our income which is all the federal form will allow us to do. It doesn’t make sense to me to have him file separately either. Yes, I am confused - very 
Is this what is called a gray area?</p>
<p>Thanks 3bm103 - we cross posted. So we can still claim him as a dependent but he must file his own return? Which form would he use? I read the instructions but when it started getting into details concerning catching fish, I began to get lost…</p>
<p>He would file a 1040 form and claim the income on a schedule C. He will also take any expenses he can on that same form. He will get the standard deduction ($5700) but no personal exemption. If your tax software doesn’t let you do it, then it’s wrong.</p>
<p>simple rules - yes a dependent can file their own taxes and still be a dependent on your return. My kids have filed their own taxes since their first jobs at 16.</p>
<p>fishes - lol.</p>
<p>Both of you - thank you soooo much for taking the time to answer my question. I know where to head on this now. Simple rules for a simple mind I guess!</p>