I'm 17 with my first job, and I didn't do my taxes. Will the IRS come after me?
Wednesday, May 19th, 2010 at
4:50 pm
I’m only seventeen and i’ve been working minimum wage part-time for almost 8 months. My parents initially thought I didn’t have to worry about taxes because I am still dependent on them. Then I realized my friends were filing tax returns, so my mom said to give her my W2 when I received it and she would take care of it. I never got a W2. Are some people exempt from doing taxes? Or am I going to owe some huge fine?
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If you made less than $5700 from a w2 wage job you are NOT required to file taxes. If they took out state or federal taxes you must file IF you want them back.
Totally file a tax return. You could get earned income credit, you could get a "making work pay" credit from Schedule M… good chance you’re actually going to MAKE money.
Plus, look at your paychecks, right? They’ve been withholding federal and state tax, right? That’s YOUR MONEY, the IRS is just holding it for safekeeping so you have it when the tax bill comes due. You are probably owed some of it back, but if you never file taxes, they just keep it.
So I’d suggest tonight, get the forms and a sharp pencil, and plug everything in and do your taxes and see what you get. You might find there’s hundreds of dollars waiting for you.
If as I suspect, you owe nothing and are owed a refund, take your time, learn and get it right. There’s no penalty for late filing if they owe you.
No to just about all your questions. You technically do have to do your taxes. You may have had to ask for your W2, which could be why you didn’t automatically get it. The good news is that more than likely the IRS will never know. As long as you don’t get audited (which probably won’t happen since you’re so young), it’s no big deal. Just make sure you file taxes next year. Really, the worse thing about it is that you probably could have gotten money back from doing them.
You didn’t make enough. I don’t know what state you live in, but I know employers do not have to deal with the hassle of W2s if it’s under a certain amount. When I lived in MA I think it was 600 maybe? I had to deal with this when I moved to CA part way into the year. I never received my W2 from my previous employer and looked into why. This probably is more common with small businesses, where they’re dealing with the hassle of doing one for such a small amount.
Question is look at your pay stubs, was money being deducted for federal taxes? Have you declared 1 on your W4 or 0?
Communication is key. Call some place like HNR Block or someplace that does taxes and talk with someone there. Worst case you will have to pay a fine but its better than not knowing and getting in huge hole later on in life.
Your mom was right in a sence, but manly because you are under 18 and you are issued under your parents and not on yourself, so you wouldnt have to. Now if you did file your taxes you could of possible gotten money back but its fine. Just make sure when you turn 18 that you do get them filed. I asked my step dad to do them cause i didnt know how to. (im 18) and hes kinda a procastinator =D so i had to keep asking him every day. But coming back from talking about nothing =D you are fine. Oh. i started working at farmfresh 2 years ago, and i didnt file my taxes the first year and im allllll right
just get a W-2 from your employer and file an extension, so you won’t be in trouble. (they won’t do anything to a kid, they only like people who have money, take a LOT of deductions, etc.)
You are getting a whole lot of BAD advice and WRONG answers here.
First of all, if you earned less than $5700 for the year, you don’t need to file a tax return. If you earned more than that, then you do need to file. Talk to your employer as soon as you can and get a copy of your W-2, just so you’ll know for sure.
Even if you didn’t earn more than $5700, though, you still might want to file a return. First of all, if your employer held out any money for federal and state taxes, filing a return is the only way you’ll get that money back again. Second of all, when you’re getting ready for college, the FAFSA people like it if you can just plug in the numbers from your tax return into their forms.
Just because you’re a dependent doesn’t mean you don’t have to worry about your taxes. The only thing that you need to remember about that is, if you do file a return, make sure you answer yes to the question that asks if you’re being claimed as a dependent by anyone else.