My husband passed away and my children get his survivor benefits. I am a bit confused when I need to file for them. They received SSA-1099-SM and all of them had the same benefits paid of about $25k+ and they each earned about $600 on interest. Some sites say: I have to file a claim for each child, I claim their benefits/interests on mine, I do not have to do anything, or I do have to claim each as their benefits topped $25k. My kids have no other income since they are too young to work. Please advise. Thank you.
Do
not
enter the SSA1099 for your child on your own tax return. Someday if the child has other income (after school job, etc.) and is filing a tax return, for that tax year he will need to include the SSA1099 on his own return. Until then, it does not get entered anywhere.You don't include their income on your return. It would only go on their return if they are required to file one. If they only got Social Security or SSDI or ssi they don’t have to file a return and nobody reports it. $600 of interest is too low to report and not taxable.