I am unsure how my son should fill out his W-4 for work....?

Question

My son is 15 and just started his first job. Is he allowed to file exempt on his W-4?

Answer 1

He can only claim exempt if he had $0 tax liability in 2006 and reasonably expects to have $0 in tax liability for this year. Since you will most likely claim him as your dependent, if he earns less than the standard deduction amount ($5,350 for 2007) then he will have $0 tax liability and can claim exempt on his W-4. If there is ANY chance at all that he might earn more than that, he is not eligible for exempt status and should fill out his W-4 as Single and 0.

Answer 2

Your son has not worked before, so he is allowed to file exempt on his W-4.

If he already filled out his W-4 differently, he will still get his taxes back when he files a tax return.

Answer 3

Your son can claim exempt only if he had no income tax liability in 2006 and expect none for 2007. The exemption only applys to Income Tax Withholding, not to withholdings for Social Security and Medicare. However, if your son is claimed as a dependent on your return, he may not want to claim this special exemption if he expects his total income (wages plus investment) to be more than $850 and investment income to be more than $300. I wouldn't do it. At the end of the year, your son will more than likely file and receive all of his (federal and maybe state) tax withholdings.

Answer 4

It depends on how much he's expecting to make for the year. If his income will be under $5350, he could file exempt. Otherwise he should file single/zero allowances.

Answer 5

Here is a direct link to the W4 form: It explains it in full detail and includes a worksheet to determine how he should file.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf?portlet=3
IRS web site: http://www.irs.gov
hope this helps!