My daughter is a full-time college student. In 2024, she had a part-time job on campus; she earned $2,334 and received a W-2 for it which had no federal tax withheld. She also had a summer internship, where she worked in a laboratory at a different college and earned $3,500; that employer sent her a 1099-MISC instead of a W-2. No taxes were withheld from it either. In total, she earned $5,834, which is below the $14,600 threshold I see in the IRS "Table 1-1. 2024 Filing Requirements for Most Taxpayers" sheet. If her summer internship employer had sent her a W-2, her standard deduction would be above $5,834 and she'd owe nothing, and we'd probably file just to have record of her having filed a tax return. But because the summer internship employer gave her a 1099-MISC, it appears she'd owe $308 if she files (which is baffling to me) because "miscellaneous" income is outside her standard deduction. Since her total income is below $14,600, can she just not file and avoid paying an unnecessary $308?
