If you will be working your first job this summer, here are a few things you should know about taxes and Uncle Sam:
1) You are working to help Uncle Sam.
2) When you are an employee, your employer must withhold taxes from your paychecks, and part of those taxes go to the federal government to help with social security and Medicare.
3) You will need to fill out a form W-4. This form tells your employer how much money to take out based on your number of exemptions. The higher the exemptions you put, the less taxes that will be taken out.
4) If you are working for tips, keep in mind that all tips are taxable. Tips of $20 or more in cash in a month must be reported to your employer as well.
5) All money that you earn is taxable. This includes babysitting and lawn mowing.
6) If you are in the ROTC, then your active duty pay, like what you get for summer camp, is taxable. However, the subsistence allowance is not taxable.
7) If you are a newspaper carrier, special tax rules apply and you may be considered self-employed. However, if you are under age 18, you might be exempt from social security and Medicare taxes.
8) You may not earn enough money from your summer job to have to file a tax return. But even if that is true, you may still want to file in order to get your withholdings back.
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