In Which, If Any, Of The Following Situations Will The Kiddie Tax Not Apply

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

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

Updated for Tax Year 2021 / October 16, 2021 03:15 AM

OVERVIEW

Typically, children are placed in a lower tax bracket than their parents and the reason for this is quite simple: most children don't have that much income, and those that do, rarely earn more than their parents. Some parents have attempted to take advantage of this by putting investments in their children's names, hoping that any investment profits would be taxed at the child's lower rate. In response, the federal government changed the tax treatment of children's unearned income by taxing it at the parent's tax rate. Form 8615 is used to make the child's tax calculations for this income.

Unearned income

"Unearned income" is income gained from a source other than employment, work, or other business activity. Money from work, by contrast, is "earned income." Unearned income includes all forms of investment income, including interest, dividends, most rent and royalty income. It also includes capital gains—the profit you make when you sell something for more than what you paid for it.

Who must file the form?

For 2021, a child must file Form 8615 if all of the following conditions apply:

The child has more than $2,200 in unearned income
The child is required to file a tax return
The child does not file a joint tax return with a spouse
At least one of the child's parents is alive
The child is within certain age limits

For tax purposes, the child's "age" is the age on December 31. The child must file the form if any of these conditions apply:

The child is under 18 at the end of the year
The child is 18 years old and does not have earned income that is more than half of the child's support for the year, or
The child was a full-time student age 19-23 and does not have earned income that is more than half of the child's support

Treatment of unearned income

In general, in 2021 the first $1,100 worth of a child's unearned income is tax-free. The next $1,100 is taxed at the child's income tax rate for 2021. Anything above $2,200, however, is taxed at the marginal tax rate of the parent(s), which usually is higher than the child's rate. This tax treatment has gained a nickname: the "kiddie tax." Calculating how much tax applies to the child's income is the purpose of Form 8615.

Information on the form

When filing the form, you must provide the child's name and Social Security Number (SSN) and the name and Social Security Number of a parent, as well as which filing status the parent is using, such as single, joint or married filing separately. The form has three parts:

Part I identifies the child's net unearned income and how much of it is subject to the kiddie tax
Part II calculates the kiddie tax based on the parent's tax rate
Part III calculates the child's tax that is used on the child's Form 1040

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The above article is intended to provide generalized financial information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not give personalized tax, investment, legal, or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always seek the assistance of a professional who knows your particular situation for advice on taxes, your investments, the law, or any other business and professional matters that affect you and/or your business.