What is IRS Form 8615: Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income

But in comparison, had the change to a different tax table not been made, a child of a parent in the top tax bracket in 2019 would owe a flat rate of 37% on all unearned income over $2,100 that did not receive preferential treatment. If capital is not an income-producing factor and the child’s personal services produced the business income, all of the child’s gross income from the trade or business is considered earned income. For tax years beginning in 2020, dependent children with unearned income above a certain amount ($2,300 for 2022) are taxed at the parent’s individual tax rate if the parent’s rate is higher than the child’s tax rate. If the child has a net capital gain or qualified dividends, use the appropriate Line 5 Worksheet in these instructions to find the amount included on line 5.

Key Takeaways: Understanding Form 8615 for Children with Unearned Income

If the parents were unmarried but lived together during the year with the child, enter the name and SSN of the parent who had the higher taxable income. A child whose tax is figured on Form 8615 may be subject to the NIIT. NIIT is a 3.8% tax on the lesser of net investment income or the excess of the child’s modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the threshold amount. For these rules, the term “child” includes a legally adopted child and a stepchild. These rules don’t apply if neither of the child’s parents were living at the end of the year.

Instructions

If neither the child, nor the parent, nor any other child has qualified dividends, the amount of qualified dividends on line 8 is zero. If a widow or widower remarries, the new spouse is treated as the child’s other parent. The rules explained earlier under Custodial parent remarried apply. If the child’s parents are divorced or legally separated, and the parent who had custody of the child for the greater part of the year (the custodial parent) hasn’t remarried, use the return of the custodial parent. Community Locations Visited and Special Events or Occurrences — This field is required to identify the location(s) for off-site individualized skills and socialization and may be used to document special events or occurrences. If providing written documentation, enter the date on which the billable activity occurred and the staff initials.

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If you do not think he is considered self-employed, you can have his 1099-NEC’s flow to Other Income. It is important to note that if it is considered Other Income, he will not be able to deduct any expenses that relate to his 1099-NEC income. Has the 1099-NEC been entered as self-employment income on a Schedule C? Please make sure it is entered correctly and answer all of the questions that follow the input of the 1099-NEC.

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An expense that most people commonly assume to be included in the qualified tuition and related expenses list is room and board, but it is not. Any scholarship or fellowship grant that is used to pay for room and board, or something else that is not considered form 8615 qualified tuition or a related expense, is taxable. In addition, a scholarship may also be taxable when the scholarship is earmarked for a nonqualifying purpose such as room and board or travel.7 In these situations, the amount of the earmark is taxable.

Since the child’s unearned income is in excess of $2,300, the child is allowed to deduct $2,300 from their total unearned income if they do not have itemized deductions on their return. If line 14 includes any net capital gain or qualified dividends and the child files Form 2555, see Using the Schedule D Tax Worksheet for line 15 tax next for instructions on how to figure the line 15 tax. If line 14 includes any net capital gain or qualified dividends, use the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet to figure this tax.

  1. Anything above $2,100 is taxed at the modified estate and trust rates.
  2. If the custodial parent remarried and filed a joint return with their new spouse, enter the name and SSN of the person listed first on the joint return, even if that person isn’t the child’s parent.
  3. Enter the amount from line 3 of the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet as the parent’s taxable income, on line 6 of Form 8615.
  4. NIIT is a 3.8% tax on the lesser of net investment income or the excess of the child’s modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over the threshold amount.

He’s effectively being paid as a contracted employee but he is working for the income. He had $0 in unearned income – no unemployment income, nothing but wages and his 1099-NEC. As the example shows, a student who receives enough from one or more scholarships to go to school for free may be on the hook for more than he or she expected. In some cases, a student whose parents do not make very much money may be surprised to find he or she owes more in taxes than the parents, even though the student did not have a job and did not receive anything beyond the ability to go to school. The student’s belief that he or she is receiving a free education may be short-lived when the student is confronted with a tax bill due to a scholarship and has no money to pay it. For Kiddie Tax purposes in 2020, the unemployment benefits in excess of $10,200 received by the child are treated as unearned income.

The thresholds for preferential tax treatment do not correspond to the thresholds for other unearned income, as presented in the preceding paragraph. Not all payments made to a student or the school he or she is attending for qualified tuition or related expenses meet the requirements to be classified as a scholarship for purposes of the Sec. 117 exclusion. In general, a payment for services is not excluded from gross income.

Net capital gain is the smaller of the gain, if any, on Schedule D (Form 1040), line 15, or the gain, if any, on Schedule D, line 16. If Schedule D isn’t required, it is the amount on Form 1040 or 1040-NR, line 7. An extension of time to file isn’t an extension of time to pay. Form 8615 must be filed for any child who meets all of the following conditions. Initials — Enter the initials of the service provider(s) providing billable activities to the individual.

Add the amount on line 7 to the amount on line 5 and enter the total on line 12a. Divide the amount on line 5 by the amount on line 12a and enter the result, as a decimal, on line 12b. If the child, the parent, or any other child has 28% rate gain, figure the amount of 28% rate gain included in the net capital gain on Form 8615, line 8, using the following worksheet. The amount of any net capital gain or qualified dividends isn’t separately reported on line 8. You must determine the amount of net capital gain and qualified dividends included on this line before completing line 9. If the parent files Form 2555 to claim the foreign earned income exclusion, housing exclusion, or housing deduction, the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet in the Instructions for Form 1040 is used to figure the parent’s tax.

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This mechanism ensures that the income is taxed at a potentially higher rate, effectively countering the strategy of income shifting for tax benefits. This is your child’s tax figured at the parent’s rate on net unearned income and the child’s tax rate on other income. When figuring the tentative tax at the parent’s tax rate on Form 8615, don’t refigure any of the exclusions, deductions, or credits on the parent’s return because of the child’s net unearned income. If your child is the beneficiary of a trust, distributions of taxable interest, dividends, capital gains, and other unearned income from the trust are unearned income to your child. Your child’s unearned income includes all income produced by property belonging to your child. This is true even if the property was transferred to your child, regardless of when the property was transferred or purchased or who transferred it.

In addition, kiddie tax applies whether or not you are a dependent of your parents. If your child files Form 2555 and has a net capital gain or qualified dividends, figure the tax using the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet or the Schedule D Tax Worksheet, whichever applies. To fill out that worksheet, follow the instructions in the footnote to the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet (in the Instructions for Form 1040).

If the Foreign Earned Income Tax Worksheet (in the Instructions for Form 1040) was used to figure the parent’s tax, enter the amount from line 4 of that worksheet, instead of the parent’s tax from Form 1040, line 16. Individualized Skills and Socialization Provider License Number — Enter the license number of the individualized skills and socialization provider. The program provider must maintain a copy of the completed Form 8615 in the individual’s record.

Use the Schedule D Tax Worksheet (in the Schedule D instructions) to figure the line 15 tax if the child has unrecaptured section 1250 gain or 28% rate gain. Don’t attach this Schedule D Tax Worksheet to the child’s return. If the child, the parent, or any other child has qualified dividends, figure the amount of qualified dividends included on line 8 by adding together the qualified dividend amounts included on lines 5, 6, and 7. If the child, the parent, or any other child has net capital gain, figure the amount of net capital gain included on line 8 by adding together the net capital gain amounts included on lines 5, 6, and 7. In figuring the amount to enter on line 1, your child’s unearned income is reduced by any penalty on the early withdrawal of savings. However, taxable distributions from a qualified disability trust are considered earned income for the purposes of completing https://turbo-tax.org/.

However, if the child has to file Schedule D and line 18 or line 19 of the child’s Schedule D is more than zero, use the Schedule D Tax Worksheet to figure this tax instead. See Using the Schedule D Tax Worksheet for line 15 tax, later, for instructions on how to figure the line 15 tax. If line 8 includes any net capital gain or qualified dividends and the child, or any other child filing Form 8615, also files Form 2555 or 2555-EZ, use Using the Schedule D Tax Worksheet for line 9 tax, later, to figure the line 9 tax. Earned income includes wages, tips, and other payments received for personal services performed. If the custodial parent and the stepparent are married, but file separate returns, use the return of the one with the greater taxable income. If the custodial parent and the stepparent are married but not living together, the earlier discussion under Parents not living together applies.

CrossLink is the industry’s leading professional tax software solution for high-volume tax businesses. Built based on the needs of busy tax offices and mobile tax preparers that specialize in providing their taxpayer clients with fast and accurate tax returns, CrossLink has been a trusted software solution since 1989. CrossLink’s in-depth tax calculations, advanced technological features, and paperless solutions allow you to prepare the most complicated tax returns with confidence and ease while providing your customers an unparalleled experience. Applies to a taxpayer’s children who are under 18 or the child’s earned income is less than half their support and they are age 18 or a full-time student aged 19 – 23. If line 4 includes any qualified dividends or net capital gain, use the Qualified Dividends and Capital Gain Tax Worksheet to figure the tax unless the Schedule D Tax Worksheet has to be used instead.

For parents who don’t file a joint return, the following discussions explain which parent’s tax return must be used to figure the tax. To understand the kiddie tax implications of the recent TCJA changes, it is instructive to first review how the Code differentiates earned from unearned income, the history of the kiddie tax, and when the kiddie tax applies. The core of Form 8615 revolves around investment income, encompassing interest, dividends, and capital gains. Accurate reporting and calculation of this income type are pivotal in determining the precise tax obligation. Kimberly must use her mother’s tax and taxable income to complete her Form 8615 for calendar year 2023 (January 1–December 31). Kimberly’s mother files her tax return on a fiscal year basis (July 1–June 30).

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