Page 16 • August 15, 2019 • Edmond Life & Leisure
Free banjo
workshop
Saturday
Joel Parks, a multi-instrumentalist
and songwriter from Oklahoma City,
will lead a free banjo workshop on
Aug. 17 at the Arcadia Round Barn.
The workshop is from 10:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. in the downstairs museum
of the barn. Coffee and donuts will be
available. Workshop participants
should bring their banjoes, but are wel-
come to attend even if they do not yet
own a banjo, said Joe Baxter, who co-
ordinates the live music at the barn.
A native of Duncan, Parks grew up
playing bluegrass in the Parks Family
Band. He has since played in a variety
of bands across multiple genres, but
has kept his heart in bluegrass. He cur-
rently plays banjo in the bluegrass
band Steelwind and the acoustic duo
Wood Willow.
Parks attended the University of
Central Oklahoma’s Academy of Con-
temporary Music. He said he has “al-
ways been intrigued by the acoustic
oddity that is banjo, and the music of
John Hartford, Bela Fleck, Earl Scruggs
and more.”
Parks studied banjo under Okla-
homa musicians Jim Blair, Bret Frans-
man, Bill Davis and Chris Elliott of
Chain Station.
For more information about the
workshop, call Baxter at 405-833-
1350.
Joel Parks will be strumming the banjo this Saturday at Arcadia’s Round Barn.
Summer jobs by teens
and tax responsibilities
(Editor’s note: The follow is a ques-
tion-and-answer column by Mikayla
Estes, a CPA with the established Ed-
mond accounting firm of Arledge &
Associates.)
Is my teenager required to report
summer job income to the IRS?
If your child makes more than
$12,000 in income for the year, she
will be required by the IRS to file a
tax return.
Income below
the threshold does
not have to be re-
ported on a return.
However, if your
child had federal or
state withholding
and would like the
amount withheld to Estes
be refunded she
will want to file a
tax return. There are many online tax
filing software programs that will
allow taxpayers to file returns free of
charge. Keep in mind, state filing re-
quirements differ from federal re-
quirements. Therefore, be sure to
confirm a state return does not need
to be filed. For example, the Okla-
homa filing threshold for a depend-
ent is $6,350, which varies
considerably from the federal
amount.
What if my received investment in-
come in addition to her summer job
income?
If your teenager received invest-
ment income in addition to summer
job income the filing thresholds
might change. Investment income in-
cludes interest, dividends and capital
gains. When considering investment
income only, the filing requirement
for teenagers under age 18 is $1,050.
When determining if your teenager
needs to file a return and has both in-
vestment income and earned income,
first check the investment income
threshold. If she is above the $1,050
threshold she will need to file a re-
turn with both her investment in-
come and earned income. On the
other hand, if her investment income
is less than $2,050, then the total in-
come threshold of $12,000 needs to
be taken into consideration. Both in-
vestment income and earned income
will need to be combined to see if
PHOTO PROVIDED
they are above or below the thresh-
old.
Does the summer job income im-
pact the parents' taxes in any way?
A teenager’s earned income will
not impact the parent’s taxes in any
way. The teenager will either be
below the filing threshold required to
report their income on a return or
they will exceed the threshold and
file her own tax return.
What if that summer job is some-
thing like mowing lawns where she
gets paid in cash?
If your child is entrepreneurial and
starts a summer business mowing
lawns or walking dogs and everything
is in cash, the income and expenses
will need to be reported on a Sched-
ule C; Profit and Loss from Business.
The self-employment threshold is
$400. The net profit or loss is the
amount that will be considered for
the threshold test.
Meaning, the expenses are sub-
tracted from the total income before
deciding if filing a return is required.
Expenses for a lawnmowing business,
for example, would be the gas used
to run the mower or for a dog walk-
ing business, treats for the dogs. It is
important to have your teenager
keep track of the money coming in
and the money going out. She
should keep a detailed log of the
dates, customers, and cash amounts
so that at the end of the year it can
easily be determined if a return needs
to be filed and the correct income
and expense amounts are reported.
Mikayla Estes, CPA, is a tax senior
at Arledge and Associates, PC, an Ed-
mond-based accounting firm. Arledge
and Associates, PC is a recognized
leader in the accounting industry of-
fering practical solutions in the areas
of tax planning, auditing, consulting,
accounting advisory services and
client accounting. Though its Gate-
way Executive Solutions division, the
firm offers outsourced CFO, con-
troller and cloud-based accounting so-
lutions.
This article contains general infor-
mation only and does not constitute
tax advice or any other professional
services. Before making any decisions
or taking any action that might affect
your income taxes, you should con-
sult a professional tax advisor.