Child's tax return

[irvinehusky]

Hello,

I was doing my taxes and was hoping one of you accounting gurus (or anyone else) can give me some pointers on how to handle my kid's tax return as this is new to me.  I believe if the child has small interest from savings/CDs, etc. I can add them on my return.  But one of my kids got paid last year for being on a few commercials.  So, this is W2 type work and for this discussion let's assume it's multiples of $10Ks.

In this case, I believe I have to file a separate return for my child?  Also, how would this affect the deductions and credits I get for this child on my own return?  What is the definition of whether someone supports themselves financially here?

And, no, my child is way too young to file a tax return by herself. 

Thank you very much for your help.

 

[qwerty]

This should provide some helpful info
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p929/ar02.html

If u use turbotax it should walk you through the process pretty easily. You can still claim your child as a dependent. She may owe taxes but you should still be able to take deductions and credits on your return that you would normally get if she would not have worked. I didn't read the whole publication so I could be wrong.

 

[usctrojancpa]

Basically if your child does not claim their exemption on their tax return, you will be able to use that exemption on your tax return (so long as the other requirements for being able to claim someone as a dependent are met).  You will need to sign your child's return on their behalf as instructed in the link that Qwerty provided as they are not old enough to sign their return themselves. 

 

[irvinehusky]

Thank you very much for reply and the info.

Wow, at first I read it as only $950 for the standard deduction but I guess it could be a little more but definitely not as generous as the regular standard deduction. 

I didn't even think about the State tax return yet. 

I'll punch it into Turbotax and see what it spits out.

Thank you again.

This should provide some helpful info
http://www.irs.gov/publications/p929/ar02.html

If u use turbotax it should walk you through the process pretty easily. You can still claim your child as a dependent. She may owe taxes but you should still be able to take deductions and credits on your return that you would normally get if she would not have worked. I didn't read the whole publication so I could be wrong.

 

[irvinehusky]

Thank you very much for your reply.

That seems to be a very important thing to do especially in case the IRS wants to ask questions.  I hope not. 

Basically if your child does not claim their exemption on their tax return, you will be able to use that exemption on your tax return (so long as the other requirements for being able to claim someone as a dependent are met).  You will need to sign your child's return on their behalf as instructed in the link that Qwerty provided as they are not old enough to sign their return themselves.