Kiddie Tax Checklist

A child age 24 or older at year-end does not satisfy the Form 8615 age condition. The age condition is met for a child under 18; at age 18 when earned income does not exceed half of support; or at ages 19-23 when the child is a full-time student and earned income does not exceed half of support. Age alone never makes Form 8615 automatic: the child must also have unearned income above the year's threshold, be required to file a return, have at least one living parent at year-end, and not file a joint return.

Unearned income includes interest, dividends, capital gains (including crypto), casual gambling winnings, trust distributions, and scholarship amounts exceeding qualified tuition. Wages and self-employment income are earned income and are NOT subject to the Kiddie Tax - and where a child's gambling or trading activity rises to a genuine trade or business performed through personal services, part of that income can be earned income too; that classification needs review before it lands on Form 8615.

Only when every Form 8814 condition is met. Among other requirements, the child's income must consist only of interest and dividends (including capital-gain distributions), 2026 gross income must be more than $1,350 but less than $13,500, no estimated payment or prior-year overpayment may be applied for the child, no backup withholding may exist, and the age, filing, and parental-election rules must be satisfied. Compare Form 8814 with a separate child return because the results and collateral effects can differ.

For 2026, Form 8615 may be required when a child has more than $2,700 of unearned income and satisfies the other filing conditions. The form then coordinates the child's taxable income with the parent's taxable income, filing status, other affected children, and preferential-rate items; it is not always a simple multiplication by the parent's marginal rate.