Teens & Taxes: Does Your State Require Your Child to Pay Income Tax?
Written by
Dawn Allcot
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As tax season is upon us, parents may be facing many new tax situations. And if your teen had earned income from a gig or part-time job or unearned income from investments, they might have to pay state income tax as well as federal taxes.
State tax for individual taxpayers is also due on Tax Day, which falls on April 18 in 2022 due to a federal holiday on April 15, 2022.
Eight U.S. states do not collect state income tax. So, if you live in one of these states, your child — just like any adult — would not have any state income tax burden. Those states are:
- Alaska
- Wyoming
- Florida
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Nevada
- Washington
- Tennessee
New Hampshire only taxes residents on interest and dividends — not earned income.
In other states, if your teen is subject to federal income taxes — which they will need to if they earned more than $12,550 — they may have to file a state tax return, as well. It all depends on whether their salary exceeds the standard deduction for their state. States with no standard deduction, which means your teen will have to file if they had any income at all, are:
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- West Virginia
Some states tie their standard deduction into the federal standard deduction, which means your child would only have to file taxes in your state if they filed a federal return.
Those states are:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Idaho
- Maine
- Missouri
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- South Carolina
- Washington, D.C.
Minnesota’s standard deduction is $12,525, which is worth mentioning as it’s just $25 below the federal standard deduction. In other states, you’ll want to speak with a tax expert to determine if your teen needs to file. You can also reference the State Income Tax Rates chart at TaxFoundation.org to look up your state’s standard deduction for individuals at TaxFoundation.org.
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