Turbotax requires 8615, even when child has earned income greater the half of their support

[user17712010583]

I am helping my college-age child (older than 18) with her taxes. I do not believe that she needs form 8615, but there is no way to remove it in TurboTax. 

The background:

 - She had significant earned income from summer job and jobs during the school year (far exceeding any levels of parental support that we provide her)

 - She also had unearned income greater than $2700. 

The criteria for filing a form 8615 is: 
 - unearned income > $2700

 - "Was a full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the end of 2025 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child's support."

My daughter does not meet the second criteria at all. I can see from the 'forms' view in turbotax that there is checkbox at top of 8615 which asks about the criteria, but that section of the form is not editable in TurboTax. TurboTax seems to assume that solely because my child has unearned income > $2700, then she must include form 8615. 

Any ideas? I think it's clear that she is not required to file form 8615, right? 

[MonikaK1]

Yes, if your daughter's earned income was more than half of her total support, then Form 8615 isn't required. According to the IRS, Form 8615 must be filed for any child who meets all of the following conditions:

• The child had more than $2,700 of unearned income.
• The child is required to file a tax return.
• The child either:
• Was under age 18 at the end of 2025,
• Was age 18 at the end of 2025 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child's support, or
• Was a full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the end of 2025 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child's support.
• At least one of the child's parents was alive at the end of 2025.
• The child doesn’t file a joint return for 2025.

You can remove a form in TurboTax if it is not needed. If you are using TurboTax Online, see this help article and below for the steps to Delete a Form: 

1. Open or continue your return.
2. On Tax Home, select Start, Continue, or Pick up where you left off to enter your return.
3. In the left menu, select Tax Tools and then Tools.
4. In the pop-up window Tool Center, choose Delete a form. (Look for any form or worksheet relating to Medical expenses.)
5. Select Delete next to the form, schedule, and worksheet in the list and follow the instructions.

If you are using a Desktop version of TurboTax, you can switch to Forms Mode (click on Forms at the top of the screen when you are in Step-by-Step Mode), review the list of forms on the left, then select the one you wish to delete. When the form displays, click "Delete Form" at the bottom of the screen.

[user17712010583]

Thank you! Yes, you confirmed my understand on when this form is needed.

I am using desktop version on a Mac. When I delete form 8615 , it immediately re-appears on my forms list, and when I tried to re-check my return, I am asked to fill in missing fields on form 8615.  

My problem appears to be that TurboTax simply believes that the form is needed, and that I don't have a way to tell TurboTax from the interview (as far as I can tell) that my child has enough earned income to make this form unnecessary. 

[MonikaK1 · Accepted solution]

If the form keeps returning, the interview answers in the Personal Info section are likely still triggering it, even if you delete it via Forms Mode. To remove Form 8615 in TurboTax Desktop, try updating your daughter's personal info in TurboTax to confirm they provided over half of their own support via earned income. 

Go back to the Personal Info section in TurboTax and go through the questions again. You can say that your daughter was a full-time student. After it asks about being a student, you will come to a screen that says "Did You Support Yourself in 2025?" Select "Yes, I provided over half of my support with earned income." Continue through the questions until you get back to the Personal Info Summary. 

You should then be able to delete Form 8615 and it will not reappear.

See here for another discussion of this issue.

See this tips article for more information about Form 8615.