My son was 19 years old in 2018 and a full time college student. During the summer of 2018 he had an internship for which he received wages of $8687 and received a W-2. Federal, Social Security, Medicare and Virginia State (the internship was in Virginia, where we live) taxes were withheld. My son did not have any other income in 2018.
1) Can I add his W-2 to our return (married parents filing jointly) or does my son need to file a separate return for himself?
2) If he needs to file a separate return for himself, can I still claim him as a dependent? We paid more than half of his living expense, tuition, etc.
Yes, he’s your dependent and he should file his own return.
No, your son will need to file his own tax return and report this income. Just make sure that he indicates he is being claimed as a dependent when doing so.
Thanks, this was very helpful. A follow on question - We had setup a 529 for my son for which we received a 1099-Q and also received a 1098-T from his college. Both of these documents are in his name. Given that he needs to file his own return, should these documents be entered on his return? Thanks
No, you will file it with your tax return since he is your dependent.