Does she need to file in this circumstance?

Question

I am getting conflicting info and wondering if some of the tax experts can help me with this. I am helping my son and his girlfriend with their taxes and wondering if the girlfriend still needs to file.
Age 19 at the end of tax year. Lived with boyfriend full year he fully supports her. She is not in school and just got a job last part of the year so income was less than 1500. He claimed her on his taxes since she lived there the full 12 months and made under 3500. Parents do not claim her. Also if makes a difference we are in California. By playing around on turbo it looks like she would not owe anything or get back anything on her own. Is she still required to file?

Bash Limpbutt&#39;s Oozing Cyst© · Accepted Answer

A single person who can be claimed as a dependent must file if their wages exceed $5,800.  Hers do not, so she does not have to file.  However if her W-2 has an amount in box 2, she must file a return to have that refunded to her.

card-ron · Answer

Since she made under $5,800 last year, and assuming all of her income was from wages from a job, she is not required to file a return.  About the only reason she might want to file a return is to have any income tax withheld refunded to her.  No income tax withholding = no reason to file.

tro · Answer

they file independently, not together
if she qualifies he can claim her as a dependent on his return
since she made less than $3700 she can file her own return for the lone reason of applying for any refund for  withheld income taxes on her W-2
and Calif agrees with the IRS definition of depenents
there is a qualifying child(which she is not of your son) and a qualifying relative, alto not r'qrd to be related, specific requirements on this one

rhero163 · Answer

Work it out on a return for both. See which way yields the best refund. And yes, if she had withholding, filing is the only way she'll get it back.

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Does she need to file in this circumstance?

4 Answers