My 16 year old son made almost 12k dollar working do i claim him as a dependant or does he file his own taxes and how would i do it

[Tucker 16]

You should not claim him as a dependent and on his own return he would mark one can claim him as a dependent. He will get all his taxes paid back. If you claimed him as a dependent, you would have to claim his income on your tax return.

[Mike9241 · Accepted solution]

he's a qualifying child (dependent) if he meets these conditions.  i have skipped the requirements he already meets

Qualifying child

• Same principal abode as you for more than ½ the tax year.  Temporary absences like for school are ignored
• Hasn’t provided over ½ his own support
• he isn't filing a joint return.

he must file his own return if any of the following apply.
• his unearned income was over $1,100.
• his earned income was over $12,550.
• his gross income was more than the larger of—
    • $1,100, or
    • his earned income (up to $12,200) plus $350.

other situations to file:

to get back federal withholding from wages  - box 2

he was paid as self-employed more than $400, he will owe self-employment taxes

if he needs to file he must indicate on his return that he can be claimed as a dependent regardless of whether you do so or not 

NOTE: the above are only for federal purposes. If there is a state income tax, the filing requirements are likely much different