It is summer time and the teenagers are busy with their summer jobs to fill their pockets. Students prefer part-time summer jobs for multiple reasons, either to earn extra money for the family or to save them for later use. The reasons may be different but the ultimate goal is to earn extra money in their free time. In that regard, the Internal Revenue Service also takes a part to help them to some extent by offering a few tax-saving tips for the blooming young taxpayers of the nation with a summer part-time job.

IRS Tips for Teen Tax Payers with Summer Jobs

The Internal Revenue Service provides some effective tax tips for the betterment of taxpayers and to increase tax filing in the nation. As a part of it, recently the IRS has provided tax tips for teens who are engaged in part-time summer jobs. Let us check out those tips and find out how effective they are for working teens.

1.      Withholding and Estimated Tax:

Normally the employers of the teenager or student employees withheld their taxes from their paychecks. In some cases, the employee is considered self-employed, hence they need to pay the taxes directly to the IRS. This can be easily done by making the estimated tax payments during the financial year.

2.      New Employees:

The individual must file form W-4, Employees Withholding Allowance Certificate if he/ she gets a new job. Apart from that, the employers use this Form for estimating the federal income tax to withhold from the employee’s pay. A taxpayer can make use of the IRS Withholding Calculator tool from the IRS site to guide in filling out the Form.

3.      Self-Employment:

Money, which came through self-employment, is taxable and the individuals can engage in various types of work that comes under self-employment. The individuals must maintain a log to keep the records of money received and the expenses paid related to their work. Generally, a tax deduction helps on reducing the taxes of individual taxpayers.

4.      Tip Income:

Tips received by the employee also need to be reported to the IRS. Hence, an employee must maintain a daily log to record the daily tips accurately. If the employee receives more than $ 20 in cash in a single month, then the employee reports the tip income to the employer.

5.      Payroll Taxes:

Some of the student taxpayers may earn little from their work to owe the income tax. The employees of the taxpayers withhold the Social Security and Medicare taxes from their pay usually. In another case, if the individual taxpayer is self-employed then the above said Social Security and Medicare taxes is still due and must be paid by the taxpayer on time.

6.      Newspaper Carriers:

Special rules apply to newspaper distributors or carriers. If the hired person qualifies certain criteria then he or she is self-employed. On the other hand, if the person does not qualify the criteria and the age is under 18 years then they can be exempt from the Social Security and Medicare taxes.

7.      ROTC Pay:

If a taxpaying individual is engaged in an ROTC program, in such a scenario pay for the summer advanced camp is taxable. However, other allowance, which is received by the individual, is not taxable. Check Publication 3 for further details.

8.      Use IRS Free File:

IRS provides an IRS Free File option through which the taxpayers may prepare and file their federal income tax return for Free. Note that the Free File option is only applicable on IRS.gov. If the taxpayer did not earn enough amounts from the work to file a federal tax return, but by law, the concerned person wants to do so if the taxes were withheld. For instance, a person can file a tax return and he/she can qualify for a tax refund or a refundable credit. In such cases, IRS-free files can guide the concerned, people.

A word to the fresh taxpayers, avoid scams. Remember that the IRS never contacts you in person through any social media or text message. Usually, the contact is made through email. So stay away from the scammers and think wise with tax filing. 

Stay tuned with Tax2efile to get the latest tips and updates on federal income taxes! And don’t forget: you can now e-file your quarterly business taxes on Forms 1099  with Tax2efile