It depends. It's a two step process. First you have to determine if any of his social security it taxable. Add 1/2 of his social security benefits to all other income. If the total is between 25,000 and 34,000 then 50% of his social security may be taxable. If the total is more than $34,000 then up to 85% may be taxable. If any is taxable it will be unearned income.
Once you generally know the percent of social security that is taxable multiply that by the social security benefit amount to get the taxable amount of social security.
Now you can use the Table 2 from Publication 501 (here) to determine if he must file a return. He must file if any of the following is true:
- His unearned income was more than $1,150 (include his taxable social security for this test)
- His earned income was more than $12,950.
- His gross income (taxable social security plus all other income) was more than the larger of:
- $1,150, or
- Your earned income (up to $12,550) plus $400.
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