Live at home student

[Peirce]

My wife and I file jointly and have claimed our son as a dependent. He is living at home while attending his first year of college. He is 19 and made almost $10,000 in 2024 at his part time job. Should we claim him as a dependent on our 24 return? How should he claim on his w-2?  Should he file a return?

thanks

[MinhT1 · Accepted solution]

If your son has income in 2024, you don't report your son's income on your tax return.

You can still claim him as a dependent if he didn't provide more than half of his own support for the year and he was under 19 at the end of 2024 (or under 24 and a full-time student).

If he was 19 or older (or 24 or older and a full-time student), you can't claim him as a dependent if he earned more than $5,050 in 2024.

If it has to be reported, at all, it goes on his own return. If your dependent son is under age 19 (or under 24 and a full-time student), he must file a tax return for 2024 if he had any of the following:

1. Total income (wages, salaries, taxable scholarship etc.) of more than $14,600 in 2024.
2. Unearned income (interest, dividends, capital gains) of more than $1,300.
3. Gross income (earned plus unearned) exceeding the larger of $1,300 or his earned income (up to $14,600) plus $400.
4. Other self-employment income over $400, including box 1 of a 1099-NEC

If your dependent son files his own return, he has to indicate in the My Info section of TurboTax that he can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

Even if he had less, he can file if he needs to get back income tax withholding. He can't get back Social Security or Medicare tax withholding.

[xmasbaby0]

As a 19 year old full-time student----he CAN be claimed as a dependent so on his own tax return he must say in MY INFO that he can be claimed as someone else's dependent.   The education credits go on parents' tax return.

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 might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/