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My teenage kid has a ton of money and no actual job.

Should I worry? He says he gets it from doing computer repairs and setup for his friends, and helping people with their Spanish homework, but it's hundreds of dollars so I'm skeptical.

1. Does this sounds legit? Can a kid really get hundreds of dollars doing PC repair?

2. How much undocumented income can he earn before he has to pay taxes on it? I assume there would be self employment tax too, right?

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Since writing this post Anonymous may have helped people, but has not within the last four (4) days.
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dollars, tax, kid, employment, hundreds
Replies (9)
Still doin stuff for starbyface
CarolineFCY
last online: 07/21, 22:01
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Computer repair-wise? In all fairness... you'd be surprised. I dropped my laptop back in September and the hard drive got practically obliterated. My local computer repair shop couldn't recover the data with their stuff, so they sent it in to Gillware, who gave me a recovery quote of $900 for 90% of the data back. I was like, "nope" and sent it to 300DDR. $300-$450 there.

There's big money to be made in computer repair. It just depends on how generous your son is, how clumsy his friends are... aaaaand how many of them abruptly turn around while their headphones are still connected to their laptop which is sitting on a precarious surface. ☠️ I figure tutoring makes decent money too. Not as much, but...

Anyways, if it's legit, sounds like he really does have a job. Just self-employed. Why not ask him about his work? Recovery tools, fees, work station, etc. Show interest instead of suspicion and he'd probably show you and ease your mind a little.

Not sure about the taxes, though. Someone else may have to field that for us. But now you've got me wondering if a little kid would get taxed if their bake sale or lemonade stand got too powerful.

1581744157174 1581744149313 miss bot
soco
last online: 03/19, 3:49
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Offer to help!
Behind the scenes that is. Go to vistaprint to get business cards and sales flyers to be mailed out. Become the CFO of the company to track income and expenses. At some point you may need to pay taxes. And possibly apply for a business license. He has enough to worry about so assuming this burden yourself will help him grow.

It will also give you a chance to keep a small database of his customers. A couple days later make a follow up phone call to them to get feedback on how their experience with your son went. Useful information.

Help me with:

We have another hurricane coming this way.

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Nix
last online: 11/28, 9:31
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Theres a lot of ways to make money online these days. I would give him benefit of the doubt and think he has earned it online. But who knows.

As for taxes, not sure where you are but in the UK its £1000 before you have to declare as work.

Either way, praise his dedication to work!

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Anonymous
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(10 hours after post)
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Nix wrote:
Either way, praise his dedication to work!

If only he were as dedicated school work!

He's not earning online. He goes to people's houses. He is secretive about it, and that's what makes me doubt. He finally revealed his source of money only after I asked if he was selling drugs.

Sherlock by olga tereshenko d9qdidc
Sherlock
last online: 07/08, 10:43
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If he is being secretive about it, that's a red flag. And how much could kids afford to pay for tutoring--or computer repairs, for that matter?

Hundreds of dollars? That's another red flag.

While he is at school, search the hell out of his room for drugs--and Google how people hide their stash. You'd be surprised at the hiding places they devise!

Good luck!

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Max
last online: 07/27, 11:05
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What kind of people does he hang with?

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Anonymous
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(2 days after post)
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Max wrote:
What kind of people does he hang with?

Teenage boys. We live in a wealthy area and he has some friends from families with money, and some who aren't rich. He goes fishing, crabbing, and bike riding with the non-rich guys and will stay all day, but goes to the houses of the rich kids, stays for an hour or two, then comes home.

I guess it's feasible he's doing their virus removal and other computer work. He certainly does repair his brother's virus and spyware issues, he manages to bypass or evade every parental controls software I put on his computer, and he builds "mods" for several games. I don't doubt that he can do PC repair, I'm just concerned by his secretiveness.

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Max
last online: 07/27, 11:05
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(2 days after post)
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Does he have a girl friend?
Being secretive happens and prying too much isn't good either, but your gut feelings are cause for concern.
He's growing up and soon will be exploring more on his own.
Being too secretive is a form of lying and unhealthy for your relationship.
Does he have good grades and goals?

Anonymous
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(3 days after post)
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keep it under 10 or 11k a year i think, make him split it with you, and stfu.

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