Not required to file taxes? Do so anyway.

I would like to think this is common knowledge, but I guess there are some people that don't know this.

This information would be most helpful to kids in high school or college working part time.

Each year, when you work, you will be required to file taxes if you make more than a certain amount of money.

Typically, this amount will equal your standard deduction plus your personal exemption. For the tax year of 2013, this amount was about $10,000 if you are single.

If you made less than that amount, you are not required to file taxes.

But you should do so anyway.


If you earned less than $10,000 a year, you will most likely owe nothing in taxes. However, if you work for an employee as a W-2 employee, you will be subject to withholding from your paycheck.

The amount taken from your paycheck will go to state income tax, federal income tax, and FICA.

The employer is required to withhold these amounts from your paycheck. If you own no taxes, you can get back the amount that was taken from you for state income tax and federal income tax. I think FICA is just lost forever.

File your taxes, and most likely, you notice that you will get a refund.

This is your money. Make sure you get it.

While this information is useful for people working part time or minimum wage jobs; it would also benefit people who were working a full time job and laid off pretty early in the year.