Do I need to file taxes for student work study income from previous years?

You don't need to stress too much about this situation! Based on what you've shared, you probably weren't actually required to file taxes for those first two years of college. For 2021 and 2022, a single dependent student generally needed to file a federal tax return if their earned income was more than $12,550 (2021) or $12,950 (2022). Since your income was only around $1,350 and $4,050 in those years, you likely fell below the filing requirement threshold. Even though you had tax withheld (the $11 and $9 you mentioned), the amounts are so small that there's minimal impact. That said, if you had filed, you probably would have received those amounts back as a refund. If you want to be thorough, you can still file returns for those years - there's no penalty for filing a late return when you're owed a refund. You have three years from the original filing deadline to claim any refund owed to you. So for 2021 taxes (due April 2022), you'd have until April 2025 to file and claim any refund.

After reading your situation, I thought I'd share something that helped me with a similar tax confusion. I had old W-2s from campus jobs during my undergrad years and wasn't sure if I filed correctly. I uploaded my documents to https://taxr.ai and they analyzed everything, explaining exactly which years I needed to file for and which ones I could skip based on my income levels. The tool confirmed I was actually under the filing threshold for one year but should have filed another year due to some scholarship income that affected my status. It saved me from unnecessarily filing some returns while helping me address the one I actually needed to fix.

I have to admit I was pretty skeptical about using an online tool for tax analysis, especially for my old returns, but I tried https://taxr.ai after reading about it here and I'm honestly impressed. I uploaded my old W-2s from my campus jobs and answered some questions about being a dependent on my parents' returns. Turns out I actually DIDN'T need to file for the year I was freaking out about because my earned income was below the threshold, but I DID need to file for another year because of some investment income from a small account my grandparents set up. The system caught that detail which completely changed my filing requirement. Saved me from filing an unnecessary return while focusing on the one I actually needed to address.

Reading this post reminds me of my own headache trying to get answers from the IRS about old W-2s from my college jobs. I called for WEEKS and could never get through - it was infuriating! Then I found https://claimyr.com and watched their demo at https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. It's a service that gets you connected to an actual IRS agent without the endless hold times. I was able to speak with someone who confirmed exactly which years I needed to file back taxes for and which ones I could skip based on my income levels. The agent even explained that for the years I was under the threshold, I didn't need to worry about filing at all unless I wanted the small refund amount. Having an official answer directly from the IRS gave me complete peace of mind.

I need to eat my words here. After commenting earlier, I was desperate enough to try that Claimyr service since I've been trying to reach the IRS for weeks about my old college W-2s and filing requirements. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back within about 40 minutes, and was connected right to an IRS representative. They pulled up my records and confirmed I didn't need to file for the years I earned under the threshold (around $3,500 each year), but I could still file to get back the small amounts of tax that were withheld. The agent was super helpful and even explained the different thresholds that apply if you're claimed as a dependent vs. independent. Having an official answer directly from the IRS was exactly what I needed to stop worrying about potential problems down the road.

Just wanted to add - if you were claimed as a dependent on someone else's return (like your parents), the filing thresholds are different. For 2021, dependents with only earned income needed to file if they made more than $12,550. But if you had unearned income (like interest), it gets more complicated. Also, even if you weren't required to file, you might want to anyway to get back that withheld tax. It's only $20 total between both years, but that's still your money!

One thing nobody's mentioned: if you were a full-time student and your income was that low, you might qualify for the American Opportunity Tax Credit or Lifetime Learning Credit for those years! Worth looking into if you paid tuition or had educational expenses.