When does my 16 year old have to file taxes or do I have to claim his income on mine?

[poodapoo]

He made around $4,000 dollars but didn’t pay in, but do I have to claim his income in my taxes as well

[xmasbaby0]

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/

[rjs]

It's not clear what you mean by "didn’t pay in." If your 16-year-old has $4,000 of income on a W-2, and that is his only income, he does not have to file a tax return at all. It doesn't matter whether tax was withheld or not. But if income tax was withheld, he will probably want to file to get a refund of the withheld income tax, even if he is not required to file.

If the $4,000 is on a 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, or was just cash with no tax form, then he must file a tax return and report the income as self-employment income.