What is the minimum age to file income tax?

Answer 1

There is no minimum age. It is possible for an infant to have enough income (for example, if investments given to the child produce enough interest, dividends, or capital gains) to require filing.

ANSWER: Before one asks such a question as minimum age to file income tax, the first question to be asked is am I liable for a tax? Filing valid income tax returns requires a valid signature and it should be clear to all that infants do not have the capacity to sign under penalty of perjury that all of the above is true and correct and file a valid income tax return. If a child has earned income this does not necessarily make that infant liable for a tax nor subject to any income tax laws. The assumption of most people is that the "Personal Income Tax" is a direct tax on their earned income. This is incorrect. The tax is not a direct tax on income because it is an unapportioned tax and as such would be unconstitutional as a direct tax. Those who've had some education have incorrectly assumed that the 16th Amendment authorized an unapportioned direct tax on income and thus the income taxes of today are direct taxes upon our income. If the 16th Amendment had "authorized" a direct tax without regard to apportionment it would have been most assuredly struck down by the Supreme Court. A careful reading of the 16th Amendment reveals that with out regard to is not used to describe unapportioned taxes but to describe the enumeration for census. There are two forms of taxation that are bound to the rule of apportionment; direct taxes and capitation taxes. A capitation tax would require a census of enumeration, so the 16th Amendment is making clear to the courts that when an unapportioned tax is passed into legislation the courts may not construe it as a direct tax bound by the rule of apportionment nor may it be viewed as a capitation tax but must necessarily be viewed as a taxed activity. What taxed activity would an infant be involved in? Is the act of earning income a taxed activity? Is there a clear and concise section of the Internal Revenue Code that shows us that earning income is a taxed activity? The fact of the matter is that when the Code does name a taxed activity it is very clear and concise and there is no confusion as to who has been made liable for a tax and subject to the revenue laws. The Code is very clear in defining those who are subject to the revenue laws and therefore liable for a tax as taxpayers. What makes you a taxpayer as specifically defined by the Code? No one should take my word for this, everyone should look at the law itself. If it is difficult to understand do not belittle yourself and assume you are not smart enough to know the law. You know the law, it is the willful confusion and games of semantics woven into this Code that makes it hard to understand and as such is just flat out bad legislation. If we are all subject to the revenue laws and as such liable for a tax we should be able to look directly at the law that made us subject to it to begin with.

This notion that an infant is actually subject to the jurisdiction of the I.R.S. simply because that infants parents, or family or friends created wealth on that infants behalf is horrifying and goes against all common sense. We are not a nation of laws we are a nation of people and in this country it is the people who hold the inherent political power, not the government and certainly not the I.R.S.. This administrative agency is very scary to be sure, but so what? So were the bullies who trampled all over people stealing their milk monies back in school. The only way to deal with bullies is with force. Do not surrender your rights just because you want to do the right thing. If you want to do the right thing and obey all the laws of our government then begin with the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land. Your rights are your rights, and before any administrative agency can find jurisdiction over you, you must first have done something within the scope of that jurisdiction. Don't ever assume that if you are outside of the scope of that jurisdiction that these government officials will honor the oath they took and leave you alone. It is up to you to know if your withing the scope of their jurisdiction or not, and it is up to you to assert your rights if a government official is stepping on them. Increasingly this is becoming easier said than done. All the more reason to do it. Look at the law. Use your own common sense, have you been made liable for a tax? Are you subject to these laws? If you come to the conclusion that you are, then you are a taxpayer as specifically defined by the Code and as such required by law to file a valid income tax return. If you have come to the conclusion that you are not liable for a tax or subject to these laws and you still file a return you have voluntarily made yourself liable for a tax you weren't all ready liable for just by filing that return. Your signature under penalty of perjury makes it solid and legal and you belong to the I.R.S. Our signatures our very important and we must be very careful as to what we are signing and why, which is why infants as a general rule don't sign anything.