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New Member
posted Feb 3, 2025 12:01:32 PM

Form 8615 child filing separately. When I put in the parent's income into 8615 turbotax deluxe makes the tax due the amount that the parent would pay on their taxes.

0 3 843
3 Replies
Expert Alumni
Feb 3, 2025 12:14:04 PM

Yes.   Form 8615 is also known as kiddie tax form, which is meant to have the child's unearned income be taxed at the parents tax rate.  This is basically so parents cannot avoid paying taxes on income by putting it in their children's name. 

You must file form 8615 when the following apply:

  1. The child had more than $2,600 of unearned income. 
  2. The child is required to file a tax return. 
  3. The child either: a. Was under age 18 at the end of 2024, 
    • b. Was age 18 at the end of 2024 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child's support, or
    •  c. Was a full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the end of 2024 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child's support. (Earned income is defined later. Support is defined below.)
  4.  At least one of the child's parents was alive at the end of 2024. 
  5.  The child doesn’t file a joint return for 2024.

     

New Member
Apr 2, 2025 6:14:38 PM

In 2024, I was 23, a full-time graduate student working part-time until May, when I graduated and started working full-time. As the child, my earned income in 2024 was more than half of my support. Per the IRS instructions, Form 8615 is filed if all the listed conditions are met.  Since I don't meet all the conditions of 3c, where in TurboTax do I need to edit to prevent the generation of Form 8615 and stop receiving the error message:  "Form 8615, Line 6 must be entered"  which is cryptically requesting my parent taxable income?

 

 

Expert Alumni
Apr 3, 2025 9:58:45 AM

If more than half of your support is provided by you, your parents would not be claiming you. Take a look at the IRS Worksheet for Determining Support and have a chat with your parents. If they are not claiming you, you will select that nobody else can claim you and the 8615 is no longer created.