Filing federal 1040 for a dependent but not filing state return
A client has a child (college student) that worked part-time. The college student is claimed as a dependent on the parent's return and only had earned income. She is below the filing requirement, but we prepared a return for her in order to request a refund of the taxes withheld.
However, the state return shows she owes a small amount. The parents want to only file the federal return for the dependent, and not file the state return (California). Their thought is that she is technically not required to file a return, therefore, a CA state return doesn't need to be filed even though we are filing a federal return. Is this correct?
