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Tax withholdings for my kid's first job?

Homerboy

Homerboy

Lifer
My daughter (16) just got her first job and she'll be starting today. Just a part-time gig during school (10-15hrs per week max at minimum wage)
Obviously I still plan on claiming her as a dependent on my taxes, but when it comes to her withholdings, what should she claim?
 
pete6032 said:
Does she have any other income this year? If she's only working minimum wage at 10-15 hrs per week then she may not hit the minimum threshold required to file a federal income tax return. Still might have to file a WI return though.

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-much-do-you-have-to-make-to-file-taxes/
Click to expand...

No - this is her first and only job. I'm pretty confident it won't go past 15 hours a week. FOR SURE not during school. I doubt she will hit that $12k threshold. 🙂
So you're saying she can have no taxes withheld (just SS and medicare). AND I can still claim her as dependent then?
 
Homerboy said:
No - this is her first and only job. I'm pretty confident it won't go past 15 hours a week. FOR SURE not during school. I doubt she will hit that $12k threshold. 🙂
So you're saying she can have no taxes withheld (just SS and medicare). AND I can still claim her as dependent then?
Click to expand...

My daughter has been working for a couple years now, and she claims zero, and we claim her as a dependent. She has not hit the threshold and always gets all the money back that is taken out for both state (WI) and federal.
 
pete6032 said:
Does she have any other income this year? If she's only working minimum wage at 10-15 hrs per week then she may not hit the minimum threshold required to file a federal income tax return. Still might have to file a WI return though.

https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/how-much-do-you-have-to-make-to-file-taxes/
Click to expand...
Regardless of earning less than $12k (or whatever the minimum is) - wouldn't it make sense to file a return since the employer will be withholding?

Curious on this subject since it's not something I've had to worry about in life, but probably will in the coming years as my kids get older.


EDIT: Based on responses here, the employer just simply returns the withholding at the end of the year?
 
I don't think she can have -no- taxes withheld (eg you put a ton of exemptions on your w4) but she will probably get it all back when she files.
 
mcurphy said:
My daughter has been working for a couple years now, and she claims zero, and we claim her as a dependent. She has not hit the threshold and always gets all the money back that is taken out for both state (WI) and federal.
Click to expand...

So she just files a 1040-EZ at the turn of the year I assume then and whatever was withheld is returned? Makes sense.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
Regardless of earning less than $12k (or whatever the minimum is) - wouldn't it make sense to file a return since the employer will be withholding?

Curious on this subject since it's not something I've had to worry about in life, but probably will in the coming years as my kids get older.


EDIT: Based on responses here, the employer just simply returns the withholding at the end of the year?
Click to expand...

The state and federal governments will issue the refund.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Why would the job itself not handle the taxes? I never heard of having to worry about that.
Click to expand...

There's an annual tax thread here very year (well, used to be). It's something that we have always done in the US. ...I swear I've seen you participate in such discussions before. I say this, because I'm not sure if you completely forget how things are done in the US, or just had no idea all the while participating in such discussions, lol.

Obviously--there's a reason we're always asking questions about taxes, right? 😀
 
zinfamous said:
There's an annual tax thread here very year (well, used to be). It's something that we have always done in the US. ...I swear I've seen you participate in such discussions before. I say this, because I'm not sure if you completely forget how things are done in the US, or just had no idea all the while participating in such discussions, lol.

Obviously--there's a reason we're always asking questions about taxes, right? 😀
Click to expand...
mostly oblivious about the world outside moosetown, canada
 
zinfamous said:
There's an annual tax thread here very year (well, used to be). It's something that we have always done in the US. ...I swear I've seen you participate in such discussions before. I say this, because I'm not sure if you completely forget how things are done in the US, or just had no idea all the while participating in such discussions, lol.

Obviously--there's a reason we're always asking questions about taxes, right? 😀
Click to expand...

So you guys seriously have to do that all manually and it's not the work place that takes the taxes for you? That sounds like a pain in the ass. This is not the type of thing I would remember so maybe I was already told I don't know. Just seems so odd to me.
 
Red Squirrel said:
So you guys seriously have to do that all manually and it's not the work place that takes the taxes for you? That sounds like a pain in the ass. This is not the type of thing I would remember so maybe I was already told I don't know. Just seems so odd to me.
Click to expand...

Not only do we have to do them ourselves, but if we do them wrong, and the gov't figures that out, they will come after you and put you through an audit which is worse than a colonoscopy.
 
Homerboy said:
Not only do we have to do them ourselves, but if we do them wrong, and the gov't figures that out, they will come after you and put you through an audit which is worse than a colonoscopy.
Click to expand...

Have you ever been audited? Honestly, you have to have one of the 2 to get audited:

1) Have a VERY complex tax return in general - and by that I mean rich as fuck.
2) SEVERELY screw up your tax return to the point where it's OBVIOUS fraud.

Hell, if you do something like forget to mention some side income (e.g. bank interest), from what I've heard it's not a big deal - especially if you notice and submit an amended return.

Basically, the IRS isn't stupid. They have bigger fish to fry for the most part.

Before I met my wife I realized in the past she was claiming head of household in a situation... where... she definitely didn't legally qualify heh. Good thing I took over taxes and that statue of limitations passed.
 
s0me0nesmind1 said:
Have you ever been audited? Honestly, you have to have one of the 2 to get audited:

1) Have a VERY complex tax return in general - and by that I mean rich as fuck.
2) SEVERELY screw up your tax return to the point where it's OBVIOUS fraud.

Hell, if you do something like forget to mention some side income (e.g. bank interest), from what I've heard it's not a big deal - especially if you notice and submit an amended return.
Click to expand...

Personally I haven''t. 2 relatives and a friend have though. And, per them, it was brutal.
 
Red Squirrel said:
So you guys seriously have to do that all manually and it's not the work place that takes the taxes for you? That sounds like a pain in the ass. This is not the type of thing I would remember so maybe I was already told I don't know. Just seems so odd to me.
Click to expand...

We have to file every year, which is different than the work-place not doing them. Payroll taxes (SS/FICA) are collected automatically on every paycheck. The problem is that the taxcode is convoluted in how rules change nearly every year, people's lives change (meaning, have access to certain benefits one year and not the next), and states have different state taxes--say you move, or you live and work in 2 different states, which is common, you have to adjust for what you may have over or underpaid each year. You can estimate the current year based on normal trends you may have, in hopes of not over-paying (thus getting a refund at the end of the season--meaning you didn't have that money before), but regardless you still have to file the work each year.

It makes sense when you realize that the tax code is completely insane and you just can't depend on the laws and your situation to be the same from year to year.

And yes, I'm sure it would just be easier if we were paid in liters of maple syrup like you guys.
 
Homerboy said:
Making mistakes, or being asked to explain your math isn't automatically committing "fraud".
2 of the 3 run small businesses.
Click to expand...

Gotcha, that's different - especially if they file returns for their business - as in both a personal return and a business return.

Gotta keep your ducks in a row, have documentation, show the accounting, etc... etc..
 
I let the kid file single on his w-4 so he would need to file his taxes for his refund. He didn't hit the $6K taxable income threshold but might as well let him have the experience.
 
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