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New Member
posted Jun 4, 2019 7:11:13 PM

Does my 25 year old son have to file taxes in both Michigan and California? He made 1500.00 in Michigan doing research as a med student but CA is his state of residence.

Also should he use the American credit opportunity even though he made only 1500.00? His tuition and expense are 66700.00 for 2017 which he will be paying himself.

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1 Best answer
Level 3
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:25 PM

He is not eligible for the AOTC since he is in med school he would be past his 4th year in school, so he will not benefit from entering his 1098-T.

If he ONLY made $1,500 for the entire year from all sources then he is under the filing threshold for CA so he would not need to file a tax return for CA. 

For Michigan, if his income was $1,500 or less than he does not need to file. Michigan filing requirements are as follows:


https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2017-California-Tax-Rates-and-Exemptions.shtml#ifr


[Edited 3/10/2018 2:34PM EST]

6 Replies
New Member
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:15 PM

I thought since my son is 25 years old he cant be claimed as a dependent. Is this true? If he isn't claimed as a dependent does he have to file in Michigan? Does he have to file for federal taxes? thank you

Level 3
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:16 PM

He is no longer a qualifying child, but he can possibly be claimed as a Qualifying Relative.  In order for your son to qualify as a qualifying relative, he would have had to earn less than $4,050 in 2017, and you would have had to provide more than half of his support. <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2017_publink1000220954">https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2017_publink1000220954</a>

Level 3
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:18 PM

If this was income reported on a W2 and he did not have taxes withheld then No he does not need to file a return.  If he received this as self-employment income, he would need to file a federal return since it was more than $400.

Level 3
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:19 PM

If you walk through the process of entering him on your return in TurboTax, the program will ask you questions to help you decide if you can claim him as a dependent for 2017.

New Member
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:24 PM

Thank you TurboTaxVanessaIA for the information!

Level 3
Jun 4, 2019 7:11:25 PM

He is not eligible for the AOTC since he is in med school he would be past his 4th year in school, so he will not benefit from entering his 1098-T.

If he ONLY made $1,500 for the entire year from all sources then he is under the filing threshold for CA so he would not need to file a tax return for CA. 

For Michigan, if his income was $1,500 or less than he does not need to file. Michigan filing requirements are as follows:


https://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/2017-California-Tax-Rates-and-Exemptions.shtml#ifr


[Edited 3/10/2018 2:34PM EST]