Teens Taxes I Received A Child Tax Credit For My College Student Do They Need To File Taxes

Are you facing tax season with a teenager in college for the first time?

                By                    Dawn Allcot                

See: Are Working Minors Entitled to a Tax Refund? Find: How Much Can Your Teen Make Before Needing to File Taxes?

In some cases, parents received the advance Child Tax Credit for their college student. If your teen was under the age of 17 in 2021 — for instance, maybe they just started school — you could have received advance CTC payments throughout the second half of 2021. On the other hand, if you have a teenage college student over the age of 17, you may have qualified for the $500 dependent tax credit instead.

In either case, the money was deposited into your bank account by the IRS, and your college student has no responsibility to file taxes because of the money. You, however, will want to reconcile the amount on IRS Letter 6419, which you should have received in January, with the amount of advance CTC you received when you file your own taxes this year.

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Your college student may have to file taxes for other reasons, such as if they had earned income over $12,500, or net income exceeding $400 as a 1099 independent contractor. If your college student worked as a W-2 employee in 2021, they might want to file taxes even if the income did not exceed $12,500, in case they are owed a refund.