I claim my child as a dependent. He earned 10,560.00 and paid 700.00 in Fed Tax. How do I file so I can claim him and get him his refund of Fed taxes paid?

[Safety-guy]

Hi, My son is 17 and I claim him as a dependent on my tax return. His total earnings for 2018 was 10,568.00. If I understand correctly, TurboTax says he doesn't have to be included on my tax return because his wages were under 12,000.00 earned income. 

He paid 711.00 Federal Income Tax. Being it says he doesn't have to file if earnings are under 12,000.00, I'd like to know the following:

1) Can I still claim him as a dependent and get the deduction if I submit a separate Federal Income Tax under his name to get him his Federal Income Taxes paid returned, if he is eligible for a refund?

2)  What do you suggest I do in this situation? 

Thanks for your help!

[xmasbaby0 · Accepted solution]

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

[Safety-guy]

Thanks very much for the information, as for answering it the same day!