Does my 16 year old son have to pay income tax if he will make $3200 for a part-time summer job.?

Question

I carry him as a dependent qualifying child. He is being paid $320 per week but no taxes are being taken out. I want to hold out what ever taxes he will be required to pay.

Answer 1

Is he an employee who will receive a W-2, or is he an independent contractor (like a paperboy for example)?

If he is an employee, he will owe no federal income tax.

If he is not an employee but will receive a 1099MISC, he may be subject to Social Security and Medicare tax.  There is an exception if he is your employee, or if he is a paper boy, or if he is a babysitter.  The Social Security and Medicare tax would come to about 15% of his income, after any expenses he could take.

Answer 2

As long as his income from sources other than his job (e.g. investment income) is less than $300, then there shouldn't be a federal income tax liability.

Answer 3

Yes, he will have to pay income taxes on the money he has earned. Because you ae claiming him as a dependent on your income taxes, he will NOT get to cliam an exmption for himself which would reduce his tax liability as much as possible. He can stil file his own tax return even though he is being claimed on your return. His filing status would be single. If he only earns about $3200, then his filing status should just about wipe out his taxable income and he should not owe the federal government any money. If I were you I would withhold about 10% of what he makes and send it to the IRS as payments. Call them at 1-800-829-1041 and ask for some payment coupons to send this money in under his name and social security number. That way he will be in good shape if he does owe any money, which should not be very much if he does. It shoud also get him some money back when he files his own tax return.

I hope that this helps you out.

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Answer 4

It depends.  The two basic numbers are $5350 and $850.  If his total earned income is less than $5350 he does not have to file.  If his unearned income is less than $850 he doesn't need to file.  There are other criteria though.  You may want to check the IRS website;  http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0...

Answer 5

Since no taxes are taken out, yes he'll owe self employment -tax so will have to file a 1040, a schedule C or C-EZ, and a schedule SE.  He won't owe any federal income tax.

The se tax will be around $452 on $3200