Is there any reason to file returns for a student who had no W2 income in 2024?

[leeleses]

I'm working with a 35yo disabled person to figure out if he should file returns this year.

In past years, when he had a job with W2 wages, he got about 105% of his taxes back.

So far for 2024 taxes, I entered about 16k from his 1098T from Rowan University, and 14k from his 1099-SSA.

He had no W2 income last year, or this year.

Question:
Is there any reason to file a Federal and NJ State return for him because Rowan University or some other agency that issues student loans would expect to see his returns were filed?

OR, if they ask for his returns, can he just print PDF's of NON-filed returns and email them to the college to show he had no earned income?

[maglib · Accepted solution]

@leeleses  as he has no w-2 nor any other income and his gross income is under $14.600, he would not need to file federally.  But, NJ requires a return to be filed if over 10k.

Plus, since he has education expenses, he may be eligible for an education credit as long as nobody else claimed that education cost.  Make sure to enter his medical expenses too in the NJ return.

In NJ he may get a credit for rent paid and education expenses.

Good luck.