# Quick tax questions (US)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-tax-questions-us/300292>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 20, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-tax-questions-us/300292 "2005-04-20T19:40:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercury)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-tax-questions-us/300292/1 "2005-04-20T19:40:44Z")

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I have never filed my income before. I’m a 22-year-old, full-time student who is still a dependant. I do not work full time (with the exception of a few weeks a year). I wanted to file for the first time this year, but I didn’t get my stuff mailed on time and now I am going to file late. :smack: I know absolutely nothing about taxes (my parents have an accountant who is handling everything) but there are some things I would really like to know:

1. Is there going to be a penalty for me filing late? My parents have an extension, and as far as I know, I would be filing with them (right?).

2. Is there a lower limit on the amount of money that you have to make to file? If, say, you make less than $X,000 you do not need to file?

3. If you are a dependant, do you have to file with your parents or do you file separately?

Thanks in advance! 🙂

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**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-tax-questions-us/300292/2 "2005-04-20T19:55:31Z")

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1. No penalty at all if they owe you money.

2. If your gross income is less than the standard deduction (around $5k if you’re single), you don’t owe any tax. But if your employer withheld any money, you would file to get it back.

3. I always filed separately when I was a dependent student.

If I were you, I’d read the 1040 Instruction booklet, handily available online. It has useful sections like “Do I need to file?”

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**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2005, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-tax-questions-us/300292/3 "2005-04-20T20:33:45Z")

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You’ll file a return by yourself, primarily to get what little witholding back. Since you will likely have a refund coming, there will be no penalty.

See this thread about what happens (in cases like yours) if you don’t file.

[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6067251#post6067251](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6067251#post6067251)

Long story short- the only likely bad thing to happen is that you’ll lose the refund you probably have coming.

Note- I am basing this on you having “earned” income, and not a lot of it, which is what your OP seems to be saying. If besides the “do not work full time (with the exception of a few weeks a year)” you had a few hundred thousand $$ in Oil Royalties, of course things would be significantly different. YMMV.