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April 5, 2025
Question

Does TurboTax offer free filing for low income taxpayers?

  • April 5, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 0 views
Doing my daughter's tax returns. She is a fulltime student that earned approximately $10,000 in 2024 working parttime. does TT offer free filing in such a situation?

2 replies

Employee
April 5, 2025

The Free Edition can be used for very simple returns that do not require the use of any extra forms or schedules, and only use Form 1040.

 

https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/online/free-edition.jsp

 

 

If she is a full-time student and you are claiming her as a dependent:

 

MY DEPENDENT HAD A JOB

If your dependent has a W-2 for his after-school job, summer job, etc. you do not include the information on your own return. You can still claim your child as a dependent on your own return.  He/she can file his own return for a refund of some of his withheld wages from boxes 2 or 17 (he won’t get back anything for Social Security or Medicare), but MUST indicate on it that he can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.  (Supervise this closely or prepare it for him!)

If your dependent’s earnings were over $400 and were reported on a 1099Misc or 1099NEC then he must file a return and pay self-employment tax for Social Security and Medicare.

 

 

You might also want to use free software from the IRS Free File versions:

https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/

 

**Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to offer the most correct information possible. The poster disclaims any legal responsibility for the accuracy of the information that is contained in this post.**
Employee
April 5, 2025

Turbotax offers "free" filing based on the forms needed, not the income level of the taxpayer.  If your daughter is a regular W-2 employee, she is not even required to file if her income is less than $15,000, unless she has more than $2600 of unearned income (investment income, prizes, gambling) and is under age 24. 

 

If she is self-employed (her part-time job is Uber or something similar) then she is required to file and will not qualify to use Turbotax for free because of the need for a schedule C.

 

You could investigate other e-filing options.