When your child is too young to sign their own tax return, you sign for them in a specific format the IRS expects: write the child’s name on the signature line, then add the word “By,” your own signature, and the phrase “parent for minor child.” That single line tells the IRS an adult with authority is filing on the child’s behalf. This is how to sign your child’s tax return as a parent, and the rest comes down to a few details about who the taxpayer is, how the format holds up for e-filing, and when you might not need to sign a separate return at all.
The Exact Signature Format
IRS Publication 501 lays out the wording for a parent signing a minor’s return: the child’s name on the signature line, followed by “By [your signature], parent for minor child.”1Internal Revenue Service. Publication 501 – Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information The IRS VITA volunteer materials use slightly fuller phrasing: “By (parent or guardian signature), parent or guardian for minor child.”2Internal Revenue Service. VITA/TCE Volunteer Resource Guide – Return Signature Either version works. What matters is that all four elements appear: the child’s name, the word “By,” your signature, and the phrase identifying your role.
Don’t skip the “By.” Without it, you’ve signed someone else’s name on a federal document. With it, you’ve signed as a representative, which is what the law contemplates.
If your child is old enough to write their own name, let them sign. The parent-signature format is meant for children who genuinely can’t sign for themselves.
Why This Wording
Federal tax regulations require that a minor’s return “be made by the minor himself or must be made for him by his guardian or other person charged with the care of the minor’s person or property.”3eCFR. 26 CFR 1.6012-1 – Individuals Required to Make Returns of Income The statute behind it, 26 U.S.C. § 6012(b)(2), says the same in broader terms: when an individual cannot make a return, a guardian, fiduciary, or person charged with their care must file it.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6012 – Persons Required to Make Returns of Income As a parent, you’re that person by default. The signature language is how you claim that authority on the page.
You Usually Don’t Need Form 2848
A formal power of attorney isn’t part of signing a routine return for your child. Your parental authority already covers it. Form 2848 comes into play in narrower situations, like authorizing a tax professional to represent the child before the IRS during an audit. For ordinary filing, skip it.
The Return Belongs to the Child, Not You
Even though you’re doing all the work, this is the child’s return. The child’s name and Social Security number go in the primary filer boxes at the top of Form 1040. Your information does not. The child is the taxpayer; you are only the person signing on their behalf.
The child also checks the box indicating that someone else can claim them as a dependent, which prevents them from claiming credits that belong on your return.5Internal Revenue Service. Dependents Filing a return in the child’s name does not interfere with your ability to claim that child as a dependent on your own return, as long as the qualifying child rules are met.
Signing an E-Filed Return
Electronic filing replaces a handwritten signature with a PIN, and this is where signing for a minor gets awkward.
The Under-16 Restriction
Children under 16 who have never filed a return before cannot use the self-select PIN method that consumer tax software relies on.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Select PIN Method for Forms 1040 and 4868 Modernized e-File A 14-year-old filing for the first time through a program like TurboTax will hit that wall. Two options work around it: a paid tax preparer can e-file using the practitioner PIN method, which has no age restriction,7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 255, Signing Your Return Electronically or you can file on paper and use the handwritten signature format described above. Once a child under 16 has filed one return successfully, they become eligible for the self-select PIN in later years.
Prior-Year AGI for a First-Time Filer
Tax software verifies identity by asking for the filer’s prior-year adjusted gross income. A first-time filer has none. The IRS instructs first-time filers age 16 or older to enter $0 in that field.8Internal Revenue Service. Validating Your Electronically Filed Tax Return If the child filed last year, use the AGI from that return.
When You Can Skip Signing a Child’s Return Altogether
In some cases, you don’t have to file a separate return for the child at all. Form 8814 lets a parent report a child’s investment income on the parent’s own Form 1040, which means only you sign, and only your return gets filed. The election is available only when every one of these conditions is met:
- The child’s only income was interest, dividends (including capital gain distributions), or Alaska Permanent Fund dividends
- The child’s gross income for 2025 was less than $13,500
- The child was under age 19, or under age 24 if a full-time student, at the end of the tax year
- The child is required to file a return
- The child does not file a joint return
Any wages, self-employment, or other non-investment income takes this option off the table.9Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8814 The convenience has a cost: income above the tax-free floor gets taxed at your rate rather than the child’s, so for larger amounts a separate return in the child’s name (which you’d sign using the parent-for-minor-child format) usually saves money.
What You Need in Front of You Before Signing
Before you sign anything, gather the paperwork the return depends on:
- The child’s Social Security number, which goes at the top of Form 1040
- Any Form W-2 issued by an employer that paid the child wages
- Any Forms 1099 for interest, dividends, capital gains, or non-employee compensation
- The child’s prior-year return, if there is one, for the AGI needed to verify an e-filed return
All IRS forms are available on the IRS website. Make sure you’re working with the version for the correct tax year, because the thresholds and instructions change every year. Once the return is complete and accurate, sign it in the child’s name, add “By,” sign your own name, and write “parent for minor child.” That is the signature the IRS is looking for.