Minor filing tax return

[FiguringItOut]

I bring in cleaning crew couple times per year to clean my apartment.  My teen mentioned that she would do the cleaning if I pay her what I pay the crew.  I'm fine with that.

She doesn't have any other job right now.  So by doing this she'll earn few hundred $$ this year.  I'd like to put this money into a Roth IRA for her.

If I open Roth for her, will she need to file tax turn for 2017 even if it's only $300-400?  There won't be any record of her employment other than what we agree to and then me handing her some cash. 

A quick search seem to suggest that if she earns more than $400, then she'll have to file tax return and pay self employment taxes.  Is that right?  Does it make sense to keep this under $400? 

[seattlecyclone]

I think you'd probably want to have her file a tax return with self-employment income (and pay any associated taxes) in order to establish her eligibility to fund a Roth IRA. Or you could forget about the IRA, declare that the money is just a gift to your daughter, and that the cleaning is part of her typical household chores. No taxes due in that scenario.

[FiguringItOut]

I think you'd probably want to have her file a tax return with self-employment income (and pay any associated taxes) in order to establish her eligibility to fund a Roth IRA. Or you could forget about the IRA, declare that the money is just a gift to your daughter, and that the cleaning is part of her typical household chores. No taxes due in that scenario.

My ultimate goal here is to open IRA for her.  I think I'll need to research this a little more.

[GizmoTX]

Do the IRA & file the tax return. Income taxes on the amount you specify are little to none.

[SeattleCPA]

You should just hire her an employee. If she's a minor, you don't need to pay payroll taxes.

http://evergreensmallbusiness.com/hiring-your-children-as-a-tax-loophole/

She can make up to the standard deduction and experience a zero percent tax rate...

BTW I'm not saying her job deserves that income amount... only that that's the max.