At what age do you pay taxes? There isn’t one. The IRS sets no minimum age for tax obligations; what matters is how much you earn and what kind of income it is. A five-year-old with dividends from a trust and a sixteen-year-old with a summer paycheck are both subject to the same rules as any adult. For the 2026 tax year, a dependent generally has to file a return once unearned income tops $1,350, earned income tops $16,100, or self-employment earnings reach $400.
Income Is What Triggers a Tax Bill, Not Age
Income comes in two flavors, and both can create a filing requirement. Earned income is money you get for work: wages, tips, freelance pay, anything you’re paid for services. Unearned income comes from money that’s working on your behalf: interest on a savings account, stock dividends, capital gains, rental income, distributions from a trust.
Either type can push you over the line into having to file. The standard deduction, a fixed amount you subtract from income before tax is calculated, is what sets the line for most people. A single filer in 2026 gets a standard deduction of $16,100.1Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026 Dependents get a smaller version of that deduction, which is why the filing thresholds for children and teenagers claimed on a parent’s return sit lower.
2026 Filing Thresholds for Someone Claimed as a Dependent
Most young people are claimed as dependents, and the IRS applies stricter filing rules to dependents than to independent filers. For 2026, a single dependent under 65 has to file if any of these are true:
- Unearned income above $1,350
- Earned income above $16,100
- Gross income above the larger of $1,350, or earned income (up to $15,650) plus $450
A dependent’s standard deduction is capped at the greater of $1,350 or the dependent’s earned income plus $450, up to a maximum of $16,100.2Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 – Section 4.14, Standard Deduction A teenager earning $8,000 from a summer job gets a standard deduction of $8,450, so nothing they earned would be subject to income tax. A teenager earning $3,000 gets a $3,450 deduction, again wiping out any federal income tax.
Self-employment income is treated differently. Net earnings of $400 or more from freelance work, gig apps, or any other self-employment require a return, no matter what other thresholds say.3Internal Revenue Service. Check if You Need to File a Tax Return That’s a much lower bar, and it catches a lot of young people who do occasional paid work outside of a W-2 job.
Self-Employment Tax Starts at $400
A regular employee splits Social Security and Medicare taxes with an employer. Self-employed workers pay both halves themselves, at a combined rate of 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.4Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) The trigger is $400 or more in net earnings from self-employment.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
This is where younger workers get caught off guard. A teenager who mows lawns and clears $500 over the summer technically owes self-employment tax on those earnings, even though the amount is nowhere near the income-tax filing threshold. The same goes for a rideshare driver, someone selling goods online, or a freelance graphic designer working from a bedroom.
The Kiddie Tax on a Child’s Investment Income
Parents sometimes shift investment assets into a child’s name, hoping the child’s lower tax bracket will cut the family tax bill. The IRS anticipated that move. The “kiddie tax” taxes a child’s unearned income above a threshold at the parent’s marginal rate instead of the child’s.
The 2026 brackets:6Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2025-32 – Section 4.02, Kiddie Tax
- First $1,350 of unearned income: tax-free
- Next $1,350: taxed at the child’s own rate
- Above $2,700: taxed at the parent’s rate
The rule applies to children under 18 at year end. It also reaches 18-year-olds whose earned income doesn’t cover more than half their own support, and full-time students aged 19 through 23 who meet the same support test.7Internal Revenue Service. 2025 Instructions for Form 8615 – Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income Once a child ages out of these categories, or earns enough to cover more than half of their own support, their investment income is taxed entirely at their own rate. A child subject to the kiddie tax with more than $2,700 in unearned income files Form 8615 with their return.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 553, Tax on a Child’s Investment and Other Unearned Income (Kiddie Tax)
FICA Comes Out of Every Paycheck, at Any Age
Age doesn’t shield a young worker from payroll taxes. If you work as an employee, your employer withholds FICA taxes from every paycheck no matter how small. There’s no minimum earnings floor the way there is for income tax filing.9Social Security Administration. What Are FICA and SECA Taxes? A 14-year-old with a $200 paycheck sees FICA taken out.
For 2026, the employee share works out to:10Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
- Social Security: 6.2% on earnings up to $184,500
- Medicare: 1.45% on all earnings, no cap
- Additional Medicare: 0.9% on wages above $200,000
Your employer pays a matching amount on top, so twice what you see on your pay stub is actually going in. And unlike income tax withholding, FICA is not refundable. If you earned the wages, those taxes stay paid.
When Filing Isn’t Required but Is Still Worth Doing
Plenty of young workers leave money behind. If an employer withheld federal income tax from your paychecks but your total income sits below the filing threshold, the IRS won’t refund the overwithholding automatically. You have to file a return to get it back. Filing when you don’t have to can also qualify you for refundable credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit, which pays out even when you owe nothing. There’s no penalty for filing a return you didn’t need to file.
One deadline matters here: you have three years from the original filing deadline to claim a refund. Miss that window and the IRS keeps the money.11Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund A teenager who works a summer job at 16 and never files can lose that refund by 19.
Penalties if a Young Taxpayer Owes and Doesn’t File
If you’re owed a refund and skip filing, the worst that happens is you forfeit the refund after three years. If you owe tax and don’t file, the IRS charges two penalties that stack. The failure-to-file penalty runs 5% of unpaid tax per month, and the failure-to-pay penalty adds another 0.5% per month.12Internal Revenue Service. Failure to Pay Penalty A return more than 60 days late carries a minimum failure-to-file penalty of $525 or 100% of the tax owed, whichever is less.13Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 653, IRS Notices and Bills, Penalties and Interest Charges These apply to any taxpayer who owes and doesn’t file, regardless of age.
For a minor who owes tax, the child is still technically the taxpayer, responsible for their own return even if a parent has to help prepare and sign it.