Form 8615 Help

[hvyplt]

TurboTax states my son does not meet all three criteria that requires Form 8615, but he does actually meet all three criteria.  How do I convince TurboTax, i.e. change responses, to generate this form?  As I go through the interview over and over, I did not provide any answers contrary to the requirement of this form.  

[LindaS5247]

A child who has more than $2,600 in unearned income in 2024 and meets certain qualifications should use IRS Form 8615 when filing a tax return.

In general, unearned income includes all forms of investment income, such as interest, dividends, rent, and capital gains. 

If the child doesn't qualify for a Form 8814 election, file Form 8615 with a child's separate return. The form will help you calculate the correct tax rate based on the parent's income and tax liability.

If  you are reporting your child's income on your tax return, the form used will be Form 8814. Form 8814 is Parent's Election To Report Child's Interest and Dividends.

If you are in your son's tax return, he must have at least $2600 of unearned income to generate the Form 8615, and be under age 18 (or 19-23 if he is a full-time student).  So you must have entered his Form(s) 1099-INT/DIV into TurboTax first.

You can get to the questions for Form 8615 as follows:

1. Click on the search icon in the upper right corner of your TurboTax screen
2. Type "Form 8615" in the search box
3. Click on the link "Jump to Form 8615"
4. Your screen will say "Child's Unearned Income"
5. Select "Continue"
6. The next screen says "Parents Information" "Were both parents of XXX deceased as of December 31, 2024?" Answer "No"
7. The next screen asks "Parents Marital Status" "Were XXX parents married to each other at the end of 2024?" Answer "Yes"
8. The next screen asks "Parents Filing Status" Are the parents of XXX filing a joint return for 2024?" Answer "Yes"
9. The next screen asks for "Parent Information" enter and select "Continue"
10. The next screen asks "Parents Taxable Income" enter it and select "Continue"
11. The next screen asks "Parents Qualified Dividends" enter it and select "Continue"
12. The next screen asks "Parents Capital Gains" enter and select "Continue"
13. The next screen asks "Schedule J (Farm Averaging)" select "No"
14. The next screen asks "Other Earned Income" enter and select "Continue" (This is for your son, not parents)
15. The next screen asks "Other Children's Unearned Income"  select yes or no (Do you have other children who file Form 8615?"
16. The next screen will show your son's tax on his unearned income.
17. His return should now include Form 8615.

If you are in your tax return determining if you can report your son's income on your tax return, you can do the following:

To get back to your screens for Form 8615:

1. Click on the search icon in the upper-right corner of your TurboTax screen
2. Type "Form 8615" in the search box
3. Click on the link "Jump to Form 8615"
4. Your first screen asks, "Any child income?" and "Do you have a child who was born after January 01, 2006 or was a full-time student age 19-23, and who received income in 2024?"answer "Yes"
5. The next screen asks, "Child Required to File?" Answer "Yes"
6. The next screen says "Reporting your Child's Income" and this screen elaborates that you may be able to report your child's income on your tax return using Form 8814.
7. Select "Continue"
8. The next screen asks if your child's income was from interest and dividends only and more than $1,300 but less than $13,000? You would answer that appropriately.
9. The next few screens ask questions to determine if your child's income can be reported on your tax return.
10. On the screen that says "You Qualify" it asks you to elect to report your child's income on your tax return. You can elect "Yes" or "No"
11. If you answer "No" the next screen says "You Elect Not to Report Child's Income" it will tell you your child has to file their own tax return.
12. If you answer "Yes" to the question, a Form 8814 will be generated.

Your TurboTax screens will look something like this:

Click here for  What is IRS Form 8615: Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income

[hvyplt]

Thank you very much Linda.  From inside my son's return, those TurboTax questions are no longer present.  Yesterday, TurboTax decided he needed the Form 8615 during the Federal Smart Check, but I wanted to see different outcomes by changing both of our returns, regarding his dependent status.  As such, I changed his TurboTax dependent status to reflect that I was claiming him, and alternatively, that I would not claim him as a dependent.  (23 y/o full time student).  Today, after I changed him back to being a dependent, TurboTax no longer used the Form 8615 for him.  While this would be great news, based on everything I have read, including within TurboTax, I do not trust that he can escape the dreaded Form 8615.  One possible caveot, almost all of his income comes from a non spousal, inhereted, traditional IRA distribution.  

Just to clarify, when I do the TT search on Form 8615, and select that form, TT continues to state that the form is not required for him.  This is after requiring it yesterday, and also, after I have deleted and re-entered all data pertaining to his dependency and 1099-R for the IRA distribution.  Please advise, thank you.  🙂