My 16 year old just got a job. What should I (parent) put in his W-4 if he is working less than 20 hours a week and making minimum wage?

[Lisa995]

He should be filling out the W4 (life experience!), and go through the worksheet at the top.  What does that recommend?

[VolvoGirl]

If he makes less than $6,300 on a W2 for the whole year he doesn't have to file a return.  He would only have to file to get back any withholding taken out.  So put down a lot of allowances so no federal or state withholding are taken out.  But  If he makes 6,300 or more he might owe some tax on it.

[SweetieJean]

State filing requirements may be different from Federal.

[Opus 17]

Typically the correct withholding will be single with zero allowances.  But this is printed on the form if you (or he) follows the instructions.  It's unlikely that state rules will be different in this circumstance but you can check your state tax web site to see if they have a separate withholding form and follow the instructions on it.

Remember that income earned from working is always reported on a tax return in the taxpayers own name, it is not added to the parents' tax return even if the parents claim the child as a dependent.

Your son will be able to file using the free version of turbotax online, but it certainly would be an educational experience to download the actual tax forms and have him do it by hand.  The forms for a single person with one job and no self-employment or investments will be fairly simple and easy to manage.

[SweetieJean]

I was commenting on "If he makes less than $6,300 on a W2 for the whole year he doesn't have to file a return."  A handful of states have very low filing requirements.

[bwa]

If he meets these two conditions, he should write "Exempt" in Box 7 so no tax is withheld.

• Last year he had no tax liability (he wouldn't if he didn't need to file a return,) and
• This year if anything was withheld he would get it back because he isn't required to file a return (or would have zero tax liability if he did..