Why am I being asked to fill out a form 8615? I'm not filing as a dependent.

[rjs]

Being a dependent is NOT one of the conditions for kiddie tax (Form 8615). If you have unearned income, such as investment income, of more than $2,300 (for 2022), and you are not filing a joint return, then your are subject to kiddie tax if any one of the following is true.

(1) You were under 18 at the end of 2022.

(2) You were 18 at the end of 2022 and your earned income (from working) is not more than half of your total support for the year.

(3) You were under 24 at the end of 2022, you were a full-time student, and your earned income (from working) is not more than half of your total support for the year.

It doesn't matter whether you are a dependent or not.

[makennaelton2020]

Ok, I was a full time student but I didn't have investment income. Does it still apply to me? Do i fill it out with a zero somewhere? This didn't show up last year so I have no idea how it works.

[rjs]

Unearned income is not just investment income. It's basically any income that wasn't from working. It could be interest from a bank, Social Security benefits, or even unemployment benefits. Here's the definition of unearned income for kiddie tax, from IRS Publication 929, page 15. Although it's not mentioned in Pub. 929, taxable scholarship income is also considered unearned income for kiddie tax.

"Unearned income defined. Unearned income is generally all income other than salaries, wages, and other amounts received as pay for work actually performed. It includes taxable interest, dividends, capital gains (including capital gain distributions), the taxable part of social security and pension payments, certain distributions from trusts, and unemployment compensation. Unearned income includes amounts produced by assets [you] obtained with earned income (such as interest on a savings account into which you deposited wages)."