Updated October 9, 2026. Quick answer: Form 8615 is the form that figures a child’s tax when the child has investment-type income above a threshold, the calculation commonly called the kiddie tax. For 2025 the instructions say “unearned income over $2,700 is taxed at the parent’s rate if the parent’s rate is higher than the child’s.” The form does this by building a tentative tax from the parent’s return, so a parent’s income and filing status end up on the child’s form.
Who has to file Form 8615
The instructions open with the purpose: “For children under age 18 and certain older children described below in Who Must File, unearned income over $2,700 is taxed at the parent’s rate if the parent’s rate is higher than the child’s.” They then set out the test: “Form 8615 must be filed for any child who meets all of the following conditions.”
| Condition | Wording from the instructions |
|---|---|
| 1 | “The child had more than $2,700 of unearned income.” |
| 2 | “The child is required to file a tax return.” |
| 3a | “Was under age 18 at the end of 2025,” |
| 3b | “Was age 18 at the end of 2025 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child’s support, or” |
| 3c | “Was a full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the end of 2025 and didn’t have earned income that was more than half of the child’s support.” |
| 4 | “At least one of the child’s parents was alive at the end of 2025.” |
| 5 | “The child doesn’t file a joint return for 2025.” |
Three further clarifications appear in the same section. First, “These rules apply whether or not the child is a dependent.” Second, “the term “child” includes a legally adopted child and a stepchild.” Third, “These rules don’t apply if neither of the child’s parents were living at the end of the year.” For a longer treatment of the rule across years, see the kiddie tax page and the 2027 kiddie tax page.
January 1 birthdays have a chart of their own, because the age test is measured at year end. For 2025 the chart treats a child born on January 1, 2008 as 18, one born January 1, 2007 as 19, and one born January 1, 2002 as 24, and of that last group it says “Don’t use Form 8615 for this child.”
What counts as unearned income
The instructions define it by exclusion: “Unearned income is generally all income other than salaries, wages, and other amounts received as pay for work actually performed (earned income).” The list of what it includes is long: “It includes taxable interest, dividends, capital gains (including capital gain distributions), rents, royalties, pension and annuity income, taxable scholarship and fellowship grants not reported on Form W-2, unemployment compensation, alimony, the taxable part of social security and pension payments, and income (other than earned income) received as the beneficiary of a trust.”
Two limits matter in practice. Nontaxable amounts are not counted: “Nontaxable unearned income, such as tax-exempt interest and the nontaxable part of social security and pension payments, isn’t included in gross income.” And a gift does not change the label: “Your child’s unearned income includes all income produced by property belonging to your child. This is true even if the property was transferred to your child, regardless of when the property was transferred or purchased or who transferred it.” That is relevant to gifts of appreciated stock and to custodial accounts; see inherited IRA minor child rules and life insurance payable to a minor for two other ways a child ends up holding income-producing property.
The IRS works one example. Amanda, age 13, had dividends, taxable interest, capital gains and capital losses, plus wages and tax-exempt interest. The conclusion: “Amanda’s unearned income is $2,800.” The reasoning: “Her wages are earned (not unearned) income because they are received for work actually performed. Her tax-exempt interest isn’t included because it is nontaxable.”
Which parent’s return is used
Lines A to C ask for a parent’s name, number and filing status, and the choice depends on the family. A summary in the IRS’s own words:
| Situation | What the instructions say |
|---|---|
| Parents married, joint return | “use the joint return to complete Form 8615.” |
| Married, separate returns | “use the return of the parent with the greater taxable income.” |
| Divorced or legally separated, custodial parent not remarried | “use the return of the custodial parent.” |
| Custodial parent remarried and filing jointly | “use that joint return. Don’t use the return of the noncustodial parent.” |
| Never married, lived together all year | “use the return of the parent with the greater taxable income.” |
Two rules cover missing information. If the parents’ figures are unknown by the due date, “the child should request an extension of time to file using Form 4868”, and the instructions add “An extension of time to file isn’t an extension of time to pay.” If the parent’s return cannot be obtained, “the child (or the child’s legal representative) can request the necessary information from the IRS.”
How the lines work
The form runs in three parts, and the instructions describe the middle step this way: “The tentative tax at the parent’s tax rate is the difference between the tax on the parent’s taxable income figured with the child’s net unearned income (plus the net unearned income of any other child whose Form 8615 includes the tax return information of that parent) and the tax figured without it.”
| Lines | What happens | Wording |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | The child’s unearned income less the line 2 amount | “If the child did not itemize deductions on Schedule A (Form 1040) or Schedule A (Form 1040-NR), enter $2,700.” |
| 4 and 5 | Net unearned income, capped by taxable income | “A child’s net unearned income can’t be more than their taxable income.” |
| 6 to 13 | Tentative tax at the parent’s rate | “Figure the tentative tax on Form 8615, lines 6 through 13.” |
| 14 to 16 | Tax on the rest of the child’s income | “This is your child’s tax figured at the parent’s rate on net unearned income and the child’s tax rate on other income.” |
| 17 and 18 | The larger of two taxes becomes the child’s tax | “Enter on line 18 the larger of line 16 or line 17.” |
The parent’s return is not reopened to do this: “don’t refigure any of the exclusions, deductions, or credits on the parent’s return because of the child’s net unearned income.” Siblings share the tentative tax. In the IRS example, “Line 7 of Sharon’s Form 8615 will show $6,000, the total of the amounts on line 5 of Jerry’s and Mike’s Forms 8615.”
The following is an illustration with made-up amounts for the first lines, using the 2025 line 2 amount for a child who does not itemize:
| Item | Amount | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Line 1: unearned income | $5,000 | Illustration input |
| Line 2: no itemized deductions | $2,700 | Printed amount for 2025 |
| Line 3: line 1 minus line 2 | $2,300 | Computed: $5,000 minus $2,700 |
| Line 5: smaller of line 3 or line 4 | $2,300 | Assumes the child’s taxable income on line 4 is at least $2,300 (illustration input) |
The tax on that $2,300 then depends on the parent’s return, so the illustration stops where the parent’s figures begin. For a child with itemized deductions, “If the child itemizes deductions, enter on line 2 the larger of:” “$1,350 plus the portion of the amount on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 17 (or Schedule A (Form 1040-NR), line 8), that is directly connected with the production of the unearned income on Form 8615, line 1; or” The second choice is the flat printed amount of $2,700, and the larger of the two goes on line 2.
The Form 8814 alternative, other taxes and amended returns
A parent can sometimes skip the child’s return. The instructions say “The parent may be able to elect to report the child’s interest, ordinary dividends, and capital gain distributions on the parent’s return.” That election is made on Form 8814, which has its own explainer on this site, and the caution attached to it is that “the federal income tax on the child’s income, including qualified dividends and capital gain distributions, may be higher if this election is made.”
Other taxes can still apply to a child on Form 8615. On the net investment income tax: “A child whose tax is figured on Form 8615 may be subject to the NIIT.” On the alternative minimum tax: “A child may be subject to AMT if the child has certain items given preferential treatment under the tax law.” If the parent’s income changes later: “If the parents’ income changes after the child’s return is filed, the child’s tax must be refigured using the adjusted amounts.” “If the child’s tax changes, file Form 1040-X.”
Which revision applies
The edition read for this page is the 2025 Instructions for Form 8615 together with the 2025 form, which is the revision irs.gov served when it was read on 2026-10-09. The dollar amounts below are the 2025 amounts and are not a forecast for any other year. Check the year printed on the form you are filing. The form prints the year 2025 in its header, and the instructions point to updates: “For the latest information about developments related to Form 8615 and its instructions, such as legislation enacted after they were published, go to IRS.gov/Form8615.”
Common mistakes
- Treating the threshold as a tax-free allowance for the whole account. The instructions apply the parent’s rate only to unearned income over the printed amount, and only when the parent’s rate is higher than the child’s.
- Using the wrong parent’s return. Divorce, remarriage and separate filing each change which return feeds lines 6 and 10, and the instructions give a rule for each case.
- Forgetting that a gifted or inherited asset keeps producing unearned income for the child. The instructions say income from property belonging to the child counts regardless of who transferred it.
Related: kiddie tax, kiddie tax 2027, inherited IRA minor child rules, and life insurance payable to a minor.
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Answer againSources
- Instructions for Form 8615 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8615.pdf
- Form 8615 (2025): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8615.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 9, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.