No, as employee, you do not have toearn a minimum income for federal and state income tax to be withheld.
Federalincome tax is based on the employee’s filing status, number ofallowances/exemptions, earnings, and the IRS withholding tax tables. All thesefactors determine the employee’s federal income tax withholding amount. Theemployee can earn a small amount of income but because he has few exemptions,he owes federal income tax. He can earn a large income but has so manyexemptions that he pays no federal income tax. In the latter case, unless theemployee truly is allowed to claim that many exemptions, he can end up owingthe IRS. If the employee qualifies for exempt status, then no federal incometax should be withheld. State income tax withholding is dependent on similar factors.Furthermore, FICA taxes are based on a set percentage, which must be withheld,regardless of income amount.
If your income is equal to or less than the sum ofthe exemption and standard deduction, the IRS doesn't requireyou to file a return.Whendetermining whether you need to file a return, you don't include tax-exemptincome. In 2017 for example, if you are under age 65 and single, you must filea tax return if you earn $10,400 or more, which is the sum of the 2017 standarddeduction for a single taxpayer plus one exemption.
