Do I have to report income from odd jobs as a teenager? Tax question for side gigs

This is actually a great question that many young people face when starting to earn money! Yes, technically any income you earn - including cash from odd jobs - is supposed to be reported to the IRS regardless of your age. This would be considered self-employment income. Since you've earned over $400 in self-employment income for the year, you're required to file a tax return even as a dependent. You'd use Schedule C to report your business income and expenses, and you'd pay self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) on your profits. As for depositing the money, banks generally don't report deposits under $10,000 to the IRS, but they may ask where you got the cash as part of their standard procedures. Just be honest - tell them you earned it doing various odd jobs in the neighborhood. There's nothing illegal about that!

Went through this exact situation with my son last year. We were totally confused until I found https://taxr.ai which literally saved us hours of research. They analyzed his situation, confirmed he needed to file since he made over $400 from his neighborhood jobs, and guided us through the whole self-employment thing. The site explained how to handle Schedule C for his side gigs and showed us which expenses he could deduct (he was able to write off his lawnmower purchase!). They also explained exactly what to tell the bank about the cash deposits. Seriously made what seemed overwhelming pretty straightforward.

Just wanted to follow up about using taxr.ai that someone recommended here. I was skeptical at first (always am with online services), but I helped my nephew use it for his situation which was almost identical to yours - he had made about $4700 doing yard work and odd jobs. The site was surprisingly helpful. It walked him through exactly what forms he needed and even showed how to track his expenses properly going forward. He was able to legitimately deduct about $900 in expenses (equipment, gas, etc.) which saved him a decent amount on his tax bill. The best part was how it explained everything in plain English instead of confusing tax jargon. Definitely less stressful than I expected!

Another thing that saved me tons of headache when I had to sort out my side gig taxes was Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I had questions that weren't covered in the standard IRS info and kept getting stuck in those endless IRS phone queues. Claimyr got me through to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days before that. The agent confirmed exactly what I needed to file for my lawn care business and even walked me through how to structure my business expenses. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Made a huge difference when I needed specific answers about self-employment taxes that weren't clearly explained online.

Ok I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment I decided to try it because I've been trying to reach the IRS for a week about my lawn care business taxes. Got connected to an agent in about 45 minutes when I had been failing for days before. The agent walked me through exactly how to report my side hustle income and what forms I needed. They even explained which expenses I could deduct that I had no idea about (like partial cell phone costs since I use it to book clients). I stand corrected - it actually works and saved me both time and money. Just wanted to follow up since I was so doubtful in my earlier comment.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're still a dependent on your parents' taxes (which at 17 you probably are), make sure they know you're filing a tax return. Their tax software might ask if any dependents have income or are filing their own returns. Won't change how much YOU pay, but could affect their filing if they don't answer those questions correctly.

Quick tip from someone who's been running a neighborhood handyman service since high school - keep a simple spreadsheet tracking all your jobs, what you earned, and any expenses. Makes tax time WAY easier and you'll have proof of everything if questions come up. Start doing this now even for your past jobs if you can remember them. Seriously you'll thank yourself next April.

Hey Ethan! I went through this exact same situation a few years ago when I was doing tutoring and pet sitting around my neighborhood. Just to add to what others have said - when you go to deposit the cash, you can literally just tell the bank teller "I earned this money doing odd jobs like yard work and house sitting in my neighborhood." They might ask for a bit more detail, but there's nothing suspicious about a teenager earning money this way. Banks see this all the time. One thing that helped me was creating a simple log of the work I did and when, even if it was just rough estimates. Like "October - helped Mrs. Johnson with yard cleanup, $150" or "November - dog sat for the Smiths, $200." It doesn't have to be perfect, but having some record makes you feel more confident about everything. Also, don't stress too much about the tax part. Yeah, you'll probably owe some money, but it's not going to be a huge amount. The self-employment tax is about 15% of your profits, so even if you had no deductible expenses, you'd be looking at maybe $800 or so. And if you can deduct any equipment or supplies you bought, it'll be less than that. You're being really responsible by thinking about this stuff now instead of just ignoring it!