If you have children that no one else can claim, can you file taxes even if you have no income ect. SS?

Question

I am a single mother of 2 year old twins. My daughter recieves Social Security, but i am unable to work due to her condition. Is there any way I can still file taxes?

Answer 1

Your daughter receives Social Security, which is not taxable income to you. Unless you have taxable income, you have nothing to put on your tax return.

It is possible for taxpayers receiving Social Security or state benefits to also file tax returns and get a refund, but these taxpayers have taxable income.

Answer 2

I believe that ss income is taxable, and if it is over $400/year (or whatever--check this), you are required to file.

We are a family of 7 with a single income. No fed taxes are held out of my hubby's paycheck and our "refund" each year is around $4000. So, no, you don't have to pay in to get money out. Go figure.

By the way if you have been in this situation for a while, you may be able to file for past years and get refunds for them as well--or be legally required to pay. Better to find out.

A quick and easy way to find out what you'd owe or receive is to log onto taxact.com and use it to generate a free return. If you pay a little, you can file it online and get the money in about 10 days.

Answer 3

You might qualify for Earned Income Credit, my sister receives SSI for her son and receives state benefits and her tax return is bigger than mine (I'll ignore the morality of that right now). Wouldn't hurt to ask a tax professional, or call the IRS help line if you can stand the wait time on the phone.

Answer 4

Why would you? If you have no income, you haven't had any money withheld. You can't get a refund of money you haven't paid in. What would be the point?

Answer 5

If you had some earned income, you could claim the "earned income credit" in future years:
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc601.html