<p>Hello,</p>
<p>My son earned $800 in work study last semester for which the college tells me he will receive a W-2. </p>
<p>He has also worked miscellaneous other jobs but would have gross income below $1,500.</p>
<p>We qualify for the simplified needs test if we file a 1040A but it would appear that we would have to file a 1040 in order to report his income on my return.</p>
<p>So, should he file his own return? I'm confused because the IRS instructions say he's only required to file if he earns over $5800 in earned income.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>He can file his own return. It’s not that big of a deal and he probably only needs to file the EZ which takes about 5 minutes. He should not claim himself, you can still claim his as a dependent if he files his own return.</p>
<p>Federal Work study dollars that are earned are reported on line 43C. They are backed out of his total gross earnings.</p>
<p>If he’s not required to file, and didn’t have taxes witheld, you don’t have to file a return for him at all and you can just indicate “will not file” as his tax status for FAFSA. I agree with JustAMom, if he needs to file to claim a refund, just do the EZ for him. He can probably efile for free through the IRS website.</p>
<p>Thank you both Justa & sk8r!!</p>