If you have "earned income" above a certain level, you would file on your own. However, if you have to put a bunch of money INTO the project (buy supplies and build a coop, buy chickens, feed, etc.) then you will almost certainly start out with a business LOSS.
Depending on how long-term you want to go with this, and what your tax bracket is (or your parents) you probably either want to stay on their taxes and let THEM take the initial business LOSS (saves them on their taxes!!!) OR you might break away from them and start out your life with losses/tax credits.
From a family point of view, it would probably be most beneficial to the family finances if you stayed with your parents. Whether you file taxes yourself or not DOES NOT AFFECT whether they can take you as a dependent/exemption or not. BUT, if they take an exemption for you, and YOU file taxes, you cannot also take an exemption for yourself. Since you will be operating at a loss at first anyway, you don't really "need" the exemption to save yourself taxes, you will not owe any!!!
HOWEVER, as a caveat for this whole thing, you need to structure it in such a way that you really plan to do this long term and eventually have a profit, or the IRS might get upset with you because if it's not really expected to make real money as a business, they consider it a "hobby". You can't take a tax deduction for a "hobby".
DISCLAIMER: I am not an accountant or tax adviser, but I am a small business owner and have talked with MY accountant a lot. We do have chickens, did save all of our receipts, but we aren't planning on taking the loss on our taxes at this point. We'd rather have the definition "hobby" for ourselves, because if we sell eggs here and there, then we don't have to declare that as INCOME.
We are looking VERY long term survivability, so we made our decisions this way based on that.
If you really want to do it as a business, you can do it as an individual small business, which is generally referred to as a Sole Proprietorship, you just have to file a Schedule C along with the standard 1040 tax return form (your parents probably already use Form 1040). You don't have to file any paperwork to "incorporate" or anything like that, and I am not sure you even could incorporate if you are a minor (see disclaimer above!).
Good luck, ask around, if your parents have an accountant/tax adviser, see if you can get some questions answered when your parents are filing their taxes.
Edited to add: I just saw the info about being given 8 acres - is that property in YOUR NAME? If so, and you are serious about a real operation here, you really need to look at incorporating. The tax advantages long term would really help you out int he long run. LLC is the easiest way to go, but if you form an S-Corporation there are lots of tax advantages. Talk to a tax professional to better assess your situation. The cost of getting good advice up front can be intimidating, my accountant charges $100 per hour, or $150 per hour during tax season. But it would be WELL WORTH IT. Most businesses fail because people don't pre-plan well enough, and they are scared to spend money up front (or don't have it!) and can't get the business on good solid footing. How much starting capital do you have access to?
Depending on how long-term you want to go with this, and what your tax bracket is (or your parents) you probably either want to stay on their taxes and let THEM take the initial business LOSS (saves them on their taxes!!!) OR you might break away from them and start out your life with losses/tax credits.
From a family point of view, it would probably be most beneficial to the family finances if you stayed with your parents. Whether you file taxes yourself or not DOES NOT AFFECT whether they can take you as a dependent/exemption or not. BUT, if they take an exemption for you, and YOU file taxes, you cannot also take an exemption for yourself. Since you will be operating at a loss at first anyway, you don't really "need" the exemption to save yourself taxes, you will not owe any!!!
HOWEVER, as a caveat for this whole thing, you need to structure it in such a way that you really plan to do this long term and eventually have a profit, or the IRS might get upset with you because if it's not really expected to make real money as a business, they consider it a "hobby". You can't take a tax deduction for a "hobby".
DISCLAIMER: I am not an accountant or tax adviser, but I am a small business owner and have talked with MY accountant a lot. We do have chickens, did save all of our receipts, but we aren't planning on taking the loss on our taxes at this point. We'd rather have the definition "hobby" for ourselves, because if we sell eggs here and there, then we don't have to declare that as INCOME.
If you really want to do it as a business, you can do it as an individual small business, which is generally referred to as a Sole Proprietorship, you just have to file a Schedule C along with the standard 1040 tax return form (your parents probably already use Form 1040). You don't have to file any paperwork to "incorporate" or anything like that, and I am not sure you even could incorporate if you are a minor (see disclaimer above!).
Good luck, ask around, if your parents have an accountant/tax adviser, see if you can get some questions answered when your parents are filing their taxes.
Edited to add: I just saw the info about being given 8 acres - is that property in YOUR NAME? If so, and you are serious about a real operation here, you really need to look at incorporating. The tax advantages long term would really help you out int he long run. LLC is the easiest way to go, but if you form an S-Corporation there are lots of tax advantages. Talk to a tax professional to better assess your situation. The cost of getting good advice up front can be intimidating, my accountant charges $100 per hour, or $150 per hour during tax season. But it would be WELL WORTH IT. Most businesses fail because people don't pre-plan well enough, and they are scared to spend money up front (or don't have it!) and can't get the business on good solid footing. How much starting capital do you have access to?
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