What's the minimum income threshold required to file taxes for 2024?
Hey everyone, I've been working a bunch of part-time gigs this year and honestly not making that much money. I'm trying to figure out if I even need to file taxes this year? I've made around $9,800 so far and might hit $11,000 by year end. I'm 23 and single, no dependents. My roommate said I might not need to file if I'm under some threshold? I've had small jobs at a coffee shop (they took taxes out) and doing some delivery app work (no taxes taken out). Any advice on what the cutoff is for having to file would be super helpful! I'd rather not waste time filing if I don't have to.
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Ally Tailer
The minimum income requirement to file taxes depends on your filing status and age. For 2024 taxes (filed in 2025), if you're single and under 65, you generally need to file if your gross income is at least $13,850. But here's where it gets tricky - since you mentioned some delivery app work with no taxes taken out, that's considered self-employment income. If you earned more than $400 in self-employment income, you're required to file regardless of your total income. So even though your total income might be below the standard threshold, you'd still need to file because of the self-employment portion. Filing might actually benefit you anyway - you could qualify for refundable credits like the Earned Income Credit that might get you money back even if you don't owe taxes!
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Aliyah Debovski
•Wait, so even if I made like $500 doing DoorDash I'd have to file? What about if I just made $300 from selling stuff online occasionally? Does that count as self-employment too?
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Ally Tailer
•Yes, if you made $500 from DoorDash, you would need to file because it exceeds the $400 self-employment threshold. The IRS considers that self-employment income. For selling items online, it depends on whether you're doing it as a business or just occasionally selling personal items. If you're regularly selling items for profit, that's self-employment. But if you're just occasionally selling personal belongings (like old clothes or furniture) for less than you paid for them, that's usually not considered taxable income.
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Miranda Singer
After struggling with figuring out if I needed to file last year with similar income levels, I found this really helpful service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai). I uploaded a summary of my income sources and it analyzed whether I needed to file or not. It actually saved me from making a mistake, because I thought I was under the threshold but didn't realize my gig work meant I still had to file. The site explains everything in really simple terms and helps you understand which specific IRS rules apply to your situation.
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Cass Green
•Does it actually tell you if you need to file or just help with filing? I'm in a similar situation with a mix of W-2 and some freelance photography gigs.
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Finley Garrett
•I'm a bit skeptical about these tax tools. How does it handle situations where you have income from multiple states or unusual tax situations? My last tax guy missed some deductions and I ended up paying way more than I needed to.
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Miranda Singer
•It definitively tells you whether you need to file based on your specific situation - it analyzes your income sources against current IRS requirements and gives you a clear yes or no answer with explanation. For your photography gigs, it would factor those in as self-employment income. For multiple state income or complex situations, it actually handles those really well. The system checks against all state-specific filing requirements too. I was surprised at how comprehensive it was - it caught several deductions I would have missed on my own that my previous tax software didn't prompt me for.
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Cass Green
Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai that the previous commenter recommended. I was on the fence about whether I needed to file with my mix of W-2 and photography income (about $7,500 total). Turns out I DO need to file because my photography side hustle earned over $400, which I had no idea about! The analysis took like 2 minutes and gave me a breakdown of exactly which IRS rules applied to my situation. Super clear and now I know exactly what I need to do instead of guessing. Definitely recommend if you're in that "maybe" zone about filing.
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Madison Tipne
If you're still trying to figure this out and need to talk to the IRS directly, good luck with that! I spent literally 4 hours on hold trying to get a simple answer about minimum filing requirements last year. Then I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me through to an actual IRS agent in under 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. Totally changed my perspective on dealing with the IRS. The agent walked me through my specific situation and confirmed I needed to file due to my self-employment income, even though my total was below the standard threshold.
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Holly Lascelles
•Wait how does this actually work? Does it just call the IRS for you? Why would that be faster than me calling myself?
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Finley Garrett
•Yeah right. Nothing gets you through to the IRS quickly. I'll believe it when I see it. Last time I called them I waited 3.5 hours only to get disconnected. How could this possibly work?
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Madison Tipne
•It uses a system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. Once an agent is on the line, it calls your phone so you can speak directly with them. It basically does the waiting part for you so you don't have to sit there listening to hold music for hours. I was skeptical too at first! That's exactly what happened to me - waiting for hours just to get disconnected. The difference is their system is persistent and knows how to navigate the complex IRS phone system. I was actually surprised when my phone rang and there was a real IRS agent ready to talk. Saved me from wasting an entire afternoon on hold.
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Finley Garrett
OK I have to eat my words here. After making that skeptical comment about Claimyr I decided to try it anyway because I had a pressing question about whether my stock sales needed to be reported if I was below the standard filing threshold. I was honestly shocked when my phone rang about 15 minutes later with an actual IRS representative on the line. The agent confirmed I needed to file due to capital gains even though my total income was low. Saved me from potentially making a big mistake, and I didn't waste half my day on hold. Can't believe I'm saying this, but it actually works exactly as advertised.
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Malia Ponder
Just want to add something important: even if you're below the minimum filing threshold, you might WANT to file anyway. I didn't have to file last year (made about $10,200), but I filed anyway and got back all my withheld income tax PLUS qualified for a partial Earned Income Credit. Ended up getting almost $1,800 back! Don't leave money on the table by not filing when you don't "have to.
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Callum Savage
•That's really good to know! So even though I might be under the threshold, I could still get money back from what they already took out of my coffee shop paychecks? About how much of your income was from W-2 jobs vs self-employment?
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Malia Ponder
•Yes, exactly! Any federal income tax that was withheld from your coffee shop paychecks could be refunded to you if you file and it turns out you don't owe tax. This is separate from Social Security and Medicare taxes which aren't refundable in the same way. About 80% of my income was from W-2 jobs and 20% from occasional freelance work. The W-2 jobs had withholding, but I didn't make quarterly payments on the freelance income. Even with the self-employment tax on the freelance portion, I still came out way ahead by filing.
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Kyle Wallace
Just to clarify something I learned the hard way: the $400 self-employment threshold is separate from the standard filing threshold. I made $12,000 from my regular job and $350 from selling crafts online last year. My tax software said I didn't need to file because I was under the standard threshold AND under the self-employment threshold. But if I had made $420 from my crafts, I would have needed to file even though my total income was still below the standard threshold. The thresholds work separately, not together.
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Ryder Ross
•So helpful! What tax software did you use that explained this clearly? I've been using [popular free service] and it never explains WHY I need to file or don't need to file.
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Diego Chavez
•I used TurboTax for that situation, and honestly it wasn't great at explaining the "why" either. It just told me I didn't need to file without breaking down the logic. I only figured out the separate threshold thing after doing some research on the IRS website later. Most tax software seems to focus on getting you through the process rather than educating you about the rules. That's probably why tools like the ones mentioned earlier in this thread are helpful - they actually explain which specific rules apply to your situation instead of just giving you a yes/no answer.
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