Dependent worked and received social security benefits.

[georgea0527]

My dependent son worked for the a small portion of 2019 and had taxes taken out of his income at a single/zero rate. He also received social security benefits. 

My question is would it be better for me to claim him as a dependent on my tax return or have him file his own return for a refund of the taxes that he paid in? The amount of SS was between $13,000 & $14,000 and his earned income was under $3000. 

[xmasbaby0]

He can file his own return.  His income cannot be on your tax return.  He needs to include the SSA1099 on his return.  

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.  You may want to use this version of TT for that:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1900583-what-is-turbotax-free-file-program

[DaveF1006 · Accepted solution]

You can claim him as a dependent and he can still file a return to claim the that were withheld by his employer. He will not be taxed on his social security based on the amount of earned income he earned.

When he files his own return, he will need to indicate that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. This question will appear as he records his personal information in the personal Info section of his return.