Should my dependent student file her own taxes to report scholarship income? She has no earned income, the scholarship income was used to pay for her room and board.

[letirr77]

The scholarship income ($4500) is the only income she has and when entering all the info into turbo tax it says she doesn't owe any tax. Her taxable income is reduce to 0 after the standard deduction. Does she still needs to report?

[jennaure]

Same situation but my daughter's scholarship income is more like $10,000 - is she required to file or not?

[Hal_Al]

Not.

A dependent  must file a tax return for 2018 if he had any of the following:

1.         Total income (wages, salaries, taxable scholarship** etc.) of more than $12,000.

[MinhT · Accepted solution]

If this is her only income, she is not required to file a tax return.

[Hal_Al]

Yes, scholarships that exceed qualified expenses is taxable income. But, no, she does not need to file a tax return, because the amount of reportable income is below the $12,000 filing threshold.

A dependent  must file a tax return for 2018 if he had any of the following:

1.         Total income (wages, salaries, taxable scholarship** etc.) of more than $12,000 ($6350 in 2017).

2.         Unearned income** (interest, dividends, capital gains) of more than $1050.

3.         Unearned income over $350 and gross income of more than $1050

4.         Household employee income (e.g. baby sitting, lawn mowing) over $2100 ($12.000 if under age 18)

5.         Other self employment income over $400, including box 7 of a 1099-MISC

 Even if he had less, he is allowed to file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He cannot get back social security or Medicare tax withholding.

** Scholarships are a special category of income. They are unearned income, for most purposes, including the kiddie tax. But for the purposes of the standard deduction, they are treated as earned income. So, with $4500 of scholarship income, you get a $4850 standard deduction and have 0 taxable income.