Whether or not we're earning "wages" - the experience of many here and at LH (I'm guessing you mean LostHorizons ) shows we don't owe income withholding tax on it. Your return is an affidavit of how much income you made under the Revenue Acts. Our experience does not show automatic rejection of 0-income returns, but refunds, just like the IRS computers are programmed to issue. See here even I got one: