CFP

Income Tax Fundamentals and Calculations - Kiddie Tax

Kiddie Tax
A good way to teach your children about responsibility, business and money is to hire them to help with a family business. If the child is between the ages of seven and 18, they can earn up to $950 before they will owe any income tax. As a business owner, you would get a business deduction and you would not have to pay Social Security or Medicare taxes for them.


  • Kiddie Tax Amount: $1,900 for 2011
  • Kiddie Tax Age: Applies to kids under 19, and dependent full-time students under age 24
To discourage parents from sheltering their income producing investments in the names of their children, the tax law has set some special rules for parent/child reporting:

  1. Investment income annual floor of $1,900
  2. Dependent child cannot claim personal exemption on their own return
  3. Limited standard deduction of $950 for children with investment income only
When does a child have to file?
A return must be filed for a dependent child if the child has investment income exceeding $300 and gross income of more than $950. If there's no investment income, the child can earn up to $5,700 before a tax return needs to be filed.

Standard Deduction for child's return?
The dependent child is allowed to claim a standard deduction of at least $950. If the child has additional earned income above $950, they can claim the full standard deduction up to those earnings (plus an additional $300) with a $5,700 maximum limit.




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