Page 4

MARCH 12, 2024 NEBRASKA HEALTH AND MEDICAID ELIGIBILITY

HUMAN SERVICES MANUAL 477-000-010

Dependents. A person who is a dependent may still have to file a return. It depends on his or her earned income, unearned income, and gross income. For details, see Publication 501 Table 2. A dependent must also file if one of the situations described in Table 3 applies.

Responsibility of parent. If a dependent child must file an income tax return but cannot file due to age or any other reason, a parent, guardian, or other legally responsible person must file it for the child. If the child cannot sign the return, the parent or guardian must sign the child's name followed by the words “By (your signature), parent for minor child.”

Earned income. Earned income includes salaries, wages, professional fees, and other amounts received as pay for work you actually perform. Earned income (only for purposes of filing requirements and the standard deduction) also includes any part of a scholarship that you must include in your gross income. See chapter 1 of Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education, for more information on taxable and nontaxable scholarships.

Child's earnings. Amounts a child earns by performing services are included in his or her gross income and not the gross income of the parent. This is true even if under local law the child's parent has the right to the earnings and may actually have received them. But if the child does not pay the tax due on this income, the parent is liable for the tax.

Unearned income. Unearned income includes income such as interest, dividends, and capital gains. Trust distributions of interest, dividends, capital gains, and survivor annuities are also considered unearned income.

Election to report child's unearned income on parent's return. You may be able to include your child's interest and dividend income on your tax return. If you do this, your child will not have to file a return. To make this election, all of the following conditions must be met. • Your child was under age 19 (or under age 24 if a student)* at the end of the year. • Your child had gross income only from interest and dividends (including capital gain distributions and Alaska Permanent Fund dividends). • The interest and dividend income was less than $11,000. • Your child is required to file a return unless you make this election. • Your child does not file a joint return. • No estimated tax payment was made for the year, and no overpayment was applied to from the previous year (or any amended return) was applied to this year under your child's name and social security number. • No federal income tax was withheld from your child's income under the backup withholding rules. • You are the parent whose return must be used when applying the special tax rules for children.

* A child born on January 1, 2001 is considered to be age 19 at the end of 2019; you cannot make the election for this child unless the child was a full-time student. Similarly, a child born on January 1, 1996, is considered to be age 24 at the end of 2019; you cannot make the election for this child.

For more information, see Form 8814 and Parent's Election to Report Child's Interest and Dividends in Publication 929.

Please note that the filing requirements are subject to change each year depending on the Internal Revenue Service.