Filing taxes for minor question

[sean99]

Hi, 

I helped my daughter to file tax return last year. She had a couple of thousands dollar income in 2023. My question is in tax year 2024, my daughter had 0 income. Do I need to file tax for her? She is 17 years old. I didn't claim her as dependent in the past few years. 

Thanks,

Sean

[VolvoGirl]

No she doesn't need to file if she didn't have any income.   Did someone else like her other parent claim her?  

[sean99]

Thank you for your answer. My daughter is not claimed as dependent by anyone. Reason I asked because I thought once my daughter started filing tax, she needs to do it every year even she doesn't have any income. 

[VolvoGirl]

If she is under 19 or had less than $5,050 income then somebody should be able to claim her.  

[xmasbaby0]

No, it is not correct that once you start filing tax returns you have to file every year even if you do not have income.  You file an income tax return if you have taxable income and meet the filing threshold for the kind of income you received.  If she had no income for 2024 she has no reason to file a return.

Not sure why she is not being claimed as a dependent.   Filing her own tax return did not mean no one else could claim her as a dependent.  She is still young enough to be either a qualified child dependent or qualified relative for whom the person who claims her may be eligible for the $500 credit for other dependents, earned income credit, possibly Head of Household filing status (if you are a single parent)

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, or fiancé (etc.) as a dependent on your 2024 tax return as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

• They're related to you.
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They're under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).
• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children.
• They lived with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).
• They didn't provide more than half of their own support for the year.

Qualifying relative

• They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).
• They aren't claimed as a dependent by someone else.
• They're a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.
• They aren’t filing a joint return with their spouse.
• They lived with you the entire year (exceptions apply).
• They made less than $5050 in 2024.   (Not counting Social Security)
• You provided more than half of their financial support.

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them. There may be other tax benefits you can get when you claim a dependent.

Related Information:

• What does "financially support another person" mean?

[xmasbaby0]

@sean99 If you had taxable income from working, then while your daughter was under the age of 17, you could have been getting the child tax credit for her.   You say you did not claim her.. Is that because you did not file a tax return yourself---do you not have taxable income to put on a tax return?   If you filed and did not claim her, you could amend past returns to claim her as a dependent.