Does Your Teen or College Student Need to File Taxes?

It is a question many parents do not think about until April, but the answer is not always what they expect.

For teens with regular jobs, the federal filing threshold for 2026 is $16,100 in earned income (wages from an employer). If your teen earned less than that, they may not be required to file a federal tax return.

But they may still want to.

If federal income tax was withheld from their paychecks, filing a return is the only way to get that money back. Many working teens earn below the filing threshold and qualify for a full refund.

The rules are different for self-employment income. Teens who earn money from babysitting, lawn mowing, tutoring, pet sitting, or other informal work may need to file if they make $400 or more. That is because self-employment income can trigger Social Security and Medicare taxes, even when the total amount seems small.

College students have another layer to consider. Parents can generally continue claiming a college student as a dependent until age 24 if the student is enrolled full-time and the parents provide more than half of the student’s support. Scholarships and grants usually do not count as the student providing their own support.

That dependency decision can matter. The person who claims the student as a dependent is generally the one who may claim education-related tax benefits, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit. That credit can be worth up to $2,500 for eligible college expenses.

For both teens and college students, the good news is that filing is often simple. IRS Free File is available at IRS.gov for taxpayers with an income below the limit, and many student returns are straightforward.

Parents should help young workers gather W-2s, 1099s, school tax forms, and bank information before filing. It is also a good chance to teach a simple lesson: taxes may come out of a paycheck, but filing a return may bring some of that money back.