How to Claim Children’s Earnings on a Parent’s Tax Return
Parents only can report their child’s income on their return if the child’s total income is less than $9,500. To qualify, the child can only have earned his income through interest, dividends and capital gains. If any federal backup withholdings were taken out of the child’s income or any estimated tax payments were made, the child’s income for the year cannot be reported on a parent’s return. If the child makes any income and either does not qualify to have his income reported on his parents’ returns or the parents choose not to report the income, the child is required to file a personal return.
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If the parents are married filing jointly, the choice of return is obvious.
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Quick tax return
There are no rapid refunds when you mail your return. In fact, one of the most frustrating things about paper filing your taxes is the interminable wait for your refund. The more you need it, the longer it seems to take. If you can’t file before the end of January, it can take six or seven weeks or more to get it. Even with the direct deposit option, it still takes far longer than you want to wait.
Of course, there is the option of taking your return to a tax preparer and obtaining a loan against your refund. The problem with a loan is the fact that you’ll have to pay either a set fee or a percentage of your return for the privilege of getting your refund money sooner. If you’ve ever tried this process, you already know that the fee or percentage is far more than you would pay for just about any other loan.
Rapid Tax Refund
The IRS has now promised fast refunds. They