How to properly report taxes for cash-only work as a high school student?
So I'm 15 and currently working a regular part-time job for the summer where everything's on the books. Once school starts back up in the fall, I won't be able to keep these hours, and I've been offered a cash-only job that works with my class schedule. The person paying me said it would be "under the table" and I'm honestly not sure what that means for taxes. I want to deposit this money in my bank account but I'm worried about getting in trouble for not reporting income correctly. I've heard the IRS can track bank deposits, and the last thing I want is to create problems for myself (or my parents). My friend said his older brother got a letter from the IRS once about unexplained deposits. How do I properly handle taxes on cash work so I can use a bank account without issues? I'll probably make around $250-300 a week during the school year from this arrangement.
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Sienna Gomez
Good thinking about this now rather than later! "Under the table" usually means the employer doesn't plan to report your earnings to the IRS or withhold any taxes. This puts the responsibility entirely on you. As a minor earning income, you should know that if you make more than $12,950 in a year (the standard deduction for 2025), you'd need to file your own tax return. Even below that amount, it's still technically required to report all income earned. The proper way to handle this would be to keep careful records of everything you earn from the cash job. Track dates, amounts, and what work you did. Then when tax time comes, you'll report this as self-employment income on Schedule C. You'll owe self-employment tax (about 15.3%) on this income if you earn more than $400 from the cash job during the year.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•Wait I'm confused. If they're 15, don't their parents claim them as a dependent? Does that change anything about how they need to file? And what about working papers - don't minors need working papers in most states to be legally employed?
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Sienna Gomez
•Being claimed as a dependent doesn't exempt someone from filing their own tax return if they have enough income. Dependents still need to file their own returns when required. Working papers or work permits are indeed required for minors in most states, though requirements vary. This is separate from the tax issue, but it's definitely something to consider. Without proper work documentation, both the employer and minor could face legal issues beyond just tax concerns. Cash jobs often overlook these requirements, which is another reason they can be problematic.
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Abigail bergen
I was in a similar situation last year and found an amazing tool that helped me figure out my tax situation with my side gig. Try checking out https://taxr.ai - it basically analyzed all my income sources (including cash jobs) and showed me exactly what I needed to report and how to do it properly. The best part was I could upload pics of my payment records and it figured out what I owed without me having to understand all the complicated tax rules. It honestly saved me from making some pretty big mistakes with reporting my income.
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Ahooker-Equator
•Does it actually help with the whole "under the table" thing though? Like, if the employer isn't reporting anything, how does the system know what you earned? Do you just manually enter cash amounts or something?
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Anderson Prospero
•I'm skeptical about using any online tool for this. Couldn't this create a paper trail that might cause problems later? If you're admitting to unreported income somewhere online, isn't that risky?
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Abigail bergen
•For cash jobs, you can manually log each payment you receive with dates and amounts. The system helps you categorize it correctly so you're reporting it as the right type of income. It's actually more about helping you satisfy your tax obligations than tracking what your employer does. Regarding the paper trail concern, properly reporting your income is actually what protects you. The risky approach is not reporting income that later shows up in bank deposits. The IRS has sophisticated systems to flag unusual banking activity, and the penalties for unreported income are much worse than just paying the taxes you owe in the first place.
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Anderson Prospero
Just wanted to update - I tried taxr.ai after my skeptical comment and I'm actually really impressed. I had a bunch of babysitting and lawn mowing money I wasn't sure how to handle, and the tool walked me through exactly how to report it. Even showed me some deductions I could take for supplies I bought that I had no idea about. Definitely recommend it for anyone in a similar situation with cash jobs.
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Tyrone Hill
If your employer isn't going to issue you any tax documents, and you're worried about doing things right, you might eventually need to talk to someone at the IRS directly about your situation. I struggled with this last year trying to report some cash income and couldn't get through to the IRS for weeks. Then I found this service called Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes when I'd been trying for days on my own. There's a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c The agent walked me through exactly how to report my cash earnings and what forms I needed, which was way more helpful than just guessing or reading online.
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Toot-n-Mighty
•How does this even work? The IRS phone lines are always jammed. Are you saying this service somehow gets you to the front of the line? That sounds fishy.
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Lena Kowalski
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS faster. I've tried calling them multiple times about my refund and always get the "high call volume" message. No way some random service fixes that problem.
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Tyrone Hill
•It uses some kind of call technology that continually redials and navigates the IRS phone tree until it finds an opening, then it calls you and connects you. It's not cutting in line - it's just automating the frustrating part of having to keep calling back. I was skeptical too until I tried it. The key thing is they only charge if you actually get connected to an agent. I honestly don't know exactly how their system works, but after trying for literally days to get through on my own, I was connected in about 15 minutes which saved me a ton of stress.
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Lena Kowalski
Ok I need to admit I was completely wrong. After dismissing that Claimyr thing, my tax situation got worse (had some questions about reporting cash tips), and I got desperate enough to try it. Got connected to an IRS agent in like 12 minutes when I'd been trying for over a week on my own. The agent actually helped me figure out the proper way to report my cash income without raising red flags. Consider me converted.
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DeShawn Washington
Hey, just wanted to add some practical advice as someone who's worked cash jobs through high school and college. Keep a simple notebook or use a notes app on your phone and write down EVERY payment - date, amount, and what it was for. Take a picture of the cash before you deposit it too. When you deposit cash, don't do it all at once. Small regular deposits that match the work you're doing won't raise flags. And remember, banks are required to report cash deposits over $10,000, but they also report patterns of deposits just under that amount (called "structuring" which is actually illegal).
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Mei-Ling Chen
•Is there a specific app you'd recommend for tracking cash payments? And do you actually need to take pictures of the physical cash? What does that prove exactly?
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DeShawn Washington
•I just used the regular notes app on my phone, nothing fancy. The key is consistency - record everything right when you get paid so you don't forget. Taking pictures of cash isn't absolutely necessary for tax purposes, but I found it helpful when I needed to look back and verify amounts. It's more a personal record-keeping tip than a legal requirement. The most important thing is documenting when and how much you earned so you can accurately report it at tax time.
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Sofía Rodríguez
Just so you know, your parents might still need to be involved here. Since you're 15, they'll still claim you as a dependent on their taxes. If you make enough from your jobs (both regular and cash), you might need to file your own return, but your status as a dependent doesn't change. Also, most banks require an adult co-signer for minors under 18 anyway, so your parents probably have access to see your deposits. Better to be upfront with them now than have them surprised later!
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Aiden O'Connor
•That's actually not completely true. The rules for dependents filing their own returns depend on both earned and unearned income. For 2025, if your earned income is over $12,950, you need to file your own return even if someone claims you as dependent.
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Sofía Rodríguez
•Thanks for the clarification. You're right about the filing threshold for earned income. The important thing for the original poster to understand is that being a dependent doesn't mean your parents file for your income on their return - you'd still need to file your own if you meet the thresholds. The point about bank accounts is still relevant though - as a minor, the parents will have visibility into banking activity in most cases, so having a conversation about the cash income is important.
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