If I claim my 18yr old son as a dependent on my taxes and he had income of less than $9000.00 should he file taxes as well?

[xmasbaby0]

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 or 1099NEC 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

[NCperson]

run your son's scenario through this IRS tool 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/do-i-need-to-file-a-tax-return

it makes a big difference whether that $9,000 is W-2s or 1099s and whether there was federal or state withholdings

[Thomas S]

If he had federal income tax withheld, he is not going to get that back unless he files.