What is IRS Form 8615: Tax for Certain Children Who Have Unearned Income
Form 8615 is used to calculate taxes on children's unearned income, which is taxed at a higher rate than income earned by children. The federal government introduced this tax rate to curb instances of parents putting investments under children's names to avoid paying higher taxes on them. If your child has unearned income, learn about how to use this form to calculate their taxes.
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Key Takeaways
- A child who has more than $2,700 in unearned income in 2025 or 2026 and meets certain qualifications should use IRS Form 8615 when filing a tax return.
- Unearned income includes all forms of investment income, such as interest, dividends, rent, royalties, and capital gains.
- Form 8615 requires the child's name and SSN, as well as the name, SSN, and filing status of a parent.
- For qualifying children with unearned income including only interest, dividends, or Alaska permanent fund taxes totaling less than $13,500 in 2025, parents can choose to include the income on their own tax return using Form 8814.
Unearned income
"Unearned income" is income gained from a source other than employment, work, or other business activity. Money from work, by contrast, is "earned income." Unearned income includes all forms of investment income, including interest, dividends, most rent and royalty income. It also includes capital gains—the profit you make when you sell something for more than what you paid for it.
Who's required to file Form 8615?
For 2025 and 2026, Form 8615 needs to be filed if all of the following conditions apply:
- the child has more than $2,700 in unearned income
- the child is required to file a tax return
- the child does not file a joint tax return with a spouse
- at least one of the child's parents is alive
- the child is within certain age limits
For tax purposes, the child's "age" is the age on December 31. The child is required to file the form if any of these conditions apply:
- the child is under 18 at the end of the year
- the child is 18 years old and does not have earned income that is more than half of the child's support for the year, or
- the child is a full-time student aged 19-23 and does not have earned income that is more than half of the child's support
Treatment of unearned income
In general, in 2025 and 2026 the first $1,350 worth of a child's unearned income is tax-free. The next $1,350 is taxed at the child's income tax rate for 2025 or 2026. Any unearned income above $2,700, however, is taxed at the marginal tax rate of the parent(s), that is usually higher than the child's rate. This tax treatment has gained a nickname: the "kiddie tax." Calculating how much tax applies to the child's income is the purpose of Form 8615.
TurboTax Tip:
A portion of a child's unearned income is typically tax-free (up to $1,350 in 2025 or 2026).
Information on the form
When filing the form, you'll need to provide the child's name and Social Security Number (SSN) and the name and Social Security Number of a parent, as well as which filing status the parent is using, such as single, joint or married filing separately. The form has three parts:
- Part I identifies the child's net unearned income and how much of it is subject to the kiddie tax
- Part II calculates the kiddie tax based on the parent's tax rate
- Part III calculates the child's tax that is used on the child's Form 1040
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