Do minors pay Social Security taxes on modeling income?

Yes, even minors have to pay Social Security taxes (FICA) on earned income, regardless of age. The tax code doesn't have a minimum age requirement for FICA taxes. However, there are a couple of important things to consider in your situation. First, if your daughter is truly being paid as an independent contractor (receiving a 1099), then Social Security and Medicare taxes would be reported on Schedule SE if her net earnings exceed $400. If she's being treated as an employee (receiving a W-2), then these taxes are automatically withheld. Second, since this is family-related work, there might be an exception if this qualifies as a family business. But since it's your brother's company (her uncle), not her parent's company, this exception probably doesn't apply.

I went through something similar when my kid did some child modeling. I was totally confused about all the tax documents and requirements! I found this amazing tool called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me figure out the specific tax situation for minors with earned income. It analyzed my kid's modeling contract and explained exactly what taxes applied and which exemptions we qualified for. Saved me from making a costly mistake on our taxes!

I have to update my skeptical comment about taxr.ai! After struggling with figuring out my twins' commercial income taxes, I finally tried it. The tool immediately identified that we needed to file a separate Schedule C for their earnings, but that we qualified for a specific exemption for child performers under 16. It saved us almost $300 in unnecessary self-employment taxes! The guidance was super specific to our situation, not generic advice at all. Definitely worth checking out if your child has any kind of unusual income.

If you're still confused after getting tax advice, I'd recommend calling the IRS directly to confirm. I've had success using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to actually get through to a real person at the IRS instead of waiting on hold forever. Check out how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I was skeptical at first, but they got me connected to an IRS agent in under 20 minutes when I had questions about my daughter's babysitting income last year. The agent walked me through exactly how to handle the social security tax portion for minors.

I need to eat crow about my skeptical comment on Claimyr. After posting that comment, I was still desperate for answers about my son's lifeguarding income taxes, so I tried it anyway. Holy crap, it actually worked! After trying for WEEKS to reach the IRS on my own, Claimyr got me through to an agent in about 15 minutes. The agent confirmed that my son does indeed need to pay Social Security tax on his summer job income, but also helped me identify a credit I didn't know about that offset most of it. I would have completely messed up his return without that call.

Something else to consider - if this is the only income your toddler has, and it's under the standard deduction amount (which is $13,850 for 2025), then they won't owe income tax. But Social Security and Medicare taxes are different and still apply to earned income regardless of the total amount. The Social Security tax rate is 12.4% and Medicare is 2.9% for self-employment.

You might want to see if your brother would be willing to hire YOU instead, and then you could just give the money to your daughter's savings. Much simpler tax situation that way.

Just FYI, if your toddler gets a 1099-NEC for this work, and the amount is $1100, you'll need to file a Schedule C and a Schedule SE for her. The self-employment tax would be about $155 (15.3% of 92.35% of $1100). But if she gets a W-2 instead, then the employer already withheld their portion and your daughter would only owe about $77 for her part.

Wow, this is such a unique situation! As someone new to this community, I'm amazed at how complex tax law can get even for a 3-year-old. From reading all these responses, it sounds like the key question is whether your daughter will receive a 1099-NEC or W-2 from your brother's company. If it's a 1099, she'd be considered self-employed and would need to pay the full 15.3% self-employment tax (around $155 as Genevieve calculated). If it's a W-2, the tax burden would be lower since the employer pays half. I'd definitely recommend getting this clarified with your brother before tax season hits. Also, make sure your daughter has her own SSN if she doesn't already - you'll need it for filing. The IRS really doesn't care about age when it comes to earned income taxes! One more thought - you might want to keep detailed records of any expenses related to the modeling work (transportation, special clothing, etc.) since those could potentially be deducted if she's filing as self-employed.

As a newcomer to this community, I'm really impressed by how thorough everyone's been with this complex situation! I've been lurking here for a while but this post finally made me create an account because I went through something similar with my nephew last year. One thing I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is the kiddie tax rules. While your daughter probably won't hit the thresholds since modeling income is considered "earned income" (not unearned), it's still worth being aware of. The kiddie tax only applies to unearned income over $2,500 for kids under 19, so you should be fine there. Also, regarding the family business exemption that Sophia mentioned - you're absolutely right that it doesn't apply here since it's your brother's company, not yours or your spouse's. But if you ever consider starting your own family business in the future, children under 18 working for a parent's sole proprietorship or partnership (where both parents are the only partners) are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes. One last tip from my experience: if your brother does issue a 1099-NEC, make sure the business name and your daughter's SSN are exactly correct on the form. Any mismatches can cause processing delays with the IRS. Good luck navigating this - it's definitely a learning experience!