Ds15 will be 16 soon and he would like to find a job. I am concerned with how it works on our taxes once he starts working. Anyone have any advice in this area? Background...we qualify for some Earned Income Credit and we also qualified for quite a bit of financial aid if I had gone back to school this year. I am concerned that if he starts working, the government will expect all of what he makes to go toward his college. Really, I have no idea what to expect or what questions I should be asking. Thanks for any advice!
It doesn't count as YOUR income - it is his. If he makes over $500 per year he will need to file his own tax return. I would verify that if you can since I just sit here entering in tax "stuff" and don't know all the laws.
We always file our own online. I suppose it will tell me how we have to do it. I just wondered how it affects dependents and household income. Really, I want to make sure that he doesn't work for pennies to fill his gas tank to and from work only to find that he worked his way out of financial aid for school.
My dad is planning on "gifting" Rachael a substantial amount for college. We told Dad NOT to give it to her until AFTER all the college money was decided on and everything, so it wouldn't influence that!
I realize this is a)anecdotal and b)possibly outdated but I worked like crazy the year before I went to college and every year since... and I still got financial aid.
I worked as well and since my parents made ok money, it was like the government said I should have had all my money in savings for college (they had a dollar amount listed as "assumed savings" or something like that. My dad had been layed off for the better part of 10 years prior to that year, so no savings at all. Granted, that was nearly 20 years ago.
He will have to file if he makes more than $500/year. He is still your dependent, it doesn't affect that part of your taxes. When I went to college, the government put down what it expected my family to contribute to my tuition when awarding financial aid, but they didn't expect me to put all of my earnings towards college.
I was making the leap from the government stating how much my parents should be able to contribute to the fact that it would have equaled or surpassed what I made at my part-time job. It just made me wonder if it will end up putting us in a different bracket with him working.
