It’s a hassle if someone else claims your child on their tax return, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up.
This happens to people all the time. You go to electronically file your tax return and it gets rejected because someone else has already claimed your child. What do you do? I say fight back, and here’s how.
The first step to fighting back is to make sure that you’re in the right. Ask yourself these questions:
1. Are you the biological parent of the child? Hint: if your answer is “I’ve raised her like my own.” You’re going to have trouble winning. If you’re a grandparent, step parent, aunt or uncle; and the person who claimed the child is the actual parent, you don’t stand much of a chance. (That said, some folks will have a credible case, but I’d suggest professional help here because it is tricky.) To go this route you should be the real parent.
2. Did the child live with you all year? If not all year, for at least over half of the year? If you had custody all year you have a much better shot of winning. You absolutely must have had custody for over half of the year to even think of trying this. If you’re on the border line, where your ex had the child for half the year and you had half, this might not be worth it.
3. Is this good for your child? Generally you’d think that having more money in the household would be good for your child, but if fighting with your ex could cause harm to your child, you might want to stop and think about it a bit.
Step two. Once you’ve determined that you are in the right and that you are entitled to claim your child, then what you need to do is print out, sign and mail that rejected return to the IRS —keeping your child as your dependent on the tax return. When you do this, the IRS has to take it in. They have to look at it and it’s going to throw whoever claimed your child into an audit. If an Earned Income Tax Credit is involved then those audit papers generally run 11 to 22 pages long. (11 pages for a straight EIC audit, 22 for an EIC and head of household audit, they’re the same questions it’s just that 22 pages is more intimidating.)
Here’s the scary part, you’re going to get the same paperwork. It is a little intimidating, but you’re expecting it. Because you’re the custodial parent, that is your child lives with you, you can answer those questions with no problem. People who shouldn’t be claiming your kids can’t answer the questions and that’s why you’ll win. If your kids are in school, you’ll need a document from the school saying they attend and where they live. If they’re too young for school, you can get a statement from the doctor’s office that you’re their parent and you pay their medical bills. You’ll have the resources to prove that you’re the parent.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t prove I have custody of my kids,” then maybe you shouldn’t be filing for them. You will have to provide some proof: school records, doctor’s files, church documents, day care receipts, health insurance records, something professional. Your Mom or a friend can’t vouch for you.
Once you’ve received the audit papers, completed them and sent them back, then it’s a waiting game. Your ex (or whoever claimed your child) will have to complete the same paperwork. The IRS will examine the papers and determine who had the proper right to claim your child. But since it’s you, you will win.
The big downside to this is that it will take months to settle. Months. On the upside, once your ex has lost an audit case for claiming your child, it will be very difficult to ever try it again. You’re not just solving a problem for one year, you’re preventing future problems as well.
What if you need the money now? That’s the most common question. Sorry, but that’s impossible. What you’ve lost, you can’t get back without a fight. If you have more than one child, and only one was claimed incorrectly, you could file now and at least get part of your refund, then file an amended return later. I don’t recommend doing that, but I also understand sometimes you need the cash now.
If you try doing this as an amended return there are two consequences: first, it will slow everything down even more. You can’t file an amended return until your first return is completely processed. An amended return will take about 16 weeks to run through the system before the whole audit process begins so you’re basically adding 4 to 5 months to the timeline for solving this issue. Second, filing a return and amending to add a child reduces your credibility with the IRS. Your documentation had better be rock solid because you will have no wiggle room for doubt if you submit an amended return to claim your child.
One more thing to consider before you go through with this. Call your ex and talk it out. I’m not crazy, hear me out. You’ve read this far, you know that fighting is a big hassle. Before you go into warrior mode, maybe you can negotiate a peace treaty. What do you stand to gain from this? What does your ex stand to gain? It’s important that you file your returns legally, but with divorced or never married couples, you can split an exemption: the custodial parent claims head of household and EIC, the non-custodial parent claims the child tax credit and the exemption. It could be a good thing for both of you and for your child. (Remember, what’s best for the child?) Instead of going to war, you have your ex amend his/her return and you file your return right after the amendment is accepted. It still is slow, but much faster than going through an audit. And it’s a peaceful solution. (Please, don’t even think of trying this if your ex is dangerous. Safety first.)
Finding out that someone else has claimed your child for taxes can be shocking and financially devastating. The assumption is usually that it’s the ex, but that’s not always the case. When you file to claim your child, you will never be told who the other person is. (Of course, if it’s your ex you’ll probably get an unfriendly phone call so you’ll know.) It’s scary how often it’s not the ex, though. Be sure to protect your child’s social security number. Don’t keep the card in your purse. Don’t share the social security number with anyone. Your child needs your protection. It’s hard enough being a kid, being a kid with a stolen identity is worse.
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Note: Here are some links that might help:
EIC questions of any kind: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Earned-Income-Tax-Credit-(EITC)-%E2%80%93–Use-the-EITC-Assistant-to-Find-Out-if-You-Should-Claim-it.
How to find free tax preparers: http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Free-Tax-Return-Preparation-for-You-by-Volunteers
How to find your local IRS office: http://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-Your-Local-IRS-Office-1
We e-filed our taxes this year and have already recieved our returns. Problem we have is we have a daughter that went to go live with her grandparents at the end of march. Well the grandparents filed and tried claiming her for all of 2011 and was rejected due to our daughter being clamied by someone else (us). I went back into the tax program and seen yes we did claim her by mistake for the whole year also instead of the 3 months she was with us. We didn’t claim her on EIC but she was for the child tax credit. I checked the the 1040A form and she added $1000 towards the tax credit but if she was removed and the $1000 was removed it didn’t change the return outcome. Well the grandparents made copies of the court papers and remailed their taxes in with the court papers without waiting for us to do anything. What we want to know is can we amend this with a 1040x and remove her, or will we have to deal with an audit? If we deal with the audit will it affect us for future returns? Should we go to our local irs office or call them and question this or no matter what is an audit headed this way?
bob
Thanks! I appreciate your support. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but if it does, you’re the first one I’m calling. 🙂 Thanks again.
Hi there. My divorce decree was final in Feb 2002…3 kids joint custody. There is nothing mentioned about who is to claim or file on the taxes. We went back in Feb 2006 and modified custody, parenting time and support. This modification states that we have joint custody with the mother (myself) having the kids 202 nights and with the father having them 163. Once again, there is nothing addressing who is to claim or not claim on the taxes.
The kids are now all teenagers and this last year, they exceeded 202 overnights with me (I kept track of overnights). When I went to do my taxes this year, it came up about the form 8332 or the divorce decree stating that it was ok for my ex to claim the kids (he has me do 2 and 1…rotating every year). This is where I began to do some research and found that there is nothing documented on the divorce decree or the modification as to who or how to claim. I can tell you that the kids go to school in my district and this is their primary address for school and all medical and dental records…even states in the decree that they are in my school district.
If I understand the IRS correctly, that since the children reside with me more than 50% of the time and I have proof and that since there is nothing stating that he can claim them, then I can claim them as I would be considered the custodial parent?
Hi Nisha,
Medical records, and insurance records are all helpful. The more evidence you can put together, the better. Was your child listed on your lease? Do you have any other proof that he lived with you? I’m a big fan of the immunization records (that’s a really custodial parent thing, isn’t it?)
Basically, all the stuff you have is good. If you have more, that’s better, but I think you’ve got a decent case to proceed. Good luck.
Hi John,
This is going to sound like a smart aleck answer, but it’s not–get the name straight. Seriously. I’m guessing that you’re using made up names and then got confused (easy to do) but if you’ve got two different kids you’re talking about and you just messed up their names writting your note, you could wind up raising red flags when talking to the IRS. It’s one of the little tricks auditors do when working on a case. You sure as heck better know your kids names, birthdates, where they go to school, what their teacher’s name is, etc. It’s an easy trap to set and I gotta confess, guys fall into it easier than women. Consider that a warning.
Now, back to the real issue (‘cuz I think you just confused the real name with the story name in there) you basically have custody of Amy/Ashley every day but she sleeps at Grandma’s house. That’s it, she just sleeps there.
Here’s the question you have to answer: why does she sleep at Grandma’s? Is it because you work at night? (That’s a good answer.) Is it because the court said you can’t have your daughter at night (really bad answer.)
There is an exception to the “sleeping at a house” rule if there is a valid reason–like parent has a night job. If you don’t have a valid reason, then the only person who can really claim your daughter is Grandma.
@Larry again,
You might want to call your lawyer about the custody issue. I can’t help you with that, but I think you need some help.
Hi Larry,
First–your biggest challenge is going to be how many nights did your child sleep at your house. Do you really have 50/50 custody or are you a Wednesday evenings and every other weekend Daddy? I don’t mean that unkindly–that’s just the normal child custody arrangements in my neighborhood. (Cub Scout meetings on Wednesdays so the Dad’s could come, seriously.)
If you have your child for MORE THAN (that part’s important) 6 months of the year–that’s 183 days–then you’ve got a fighting chance. If not, you’ll lose hands down.
Now, if you don’t have custody–you might be able to persuade her to sign a form 8332 to allow you the exemption and the child tax credit–but unless you have some sort of court order decree or something, you can’t force that.
Also, you let her claim your child for 4 years straight–which probably made sense at the time and everything, but you’ll probably face a little extra scrutiny if you try to claim your child. (You may have seen some of the other posts about men getting burned.)
Now that doesn’t mean you can’t fight and win–If you truly have custody and truly are in the right–fight the good fight. Line up your proof. Just be prepared for the work, it won’t be easy and the burden of proof is going to be a little harder for you. Good luck.
Hi Wilbur,
I don’t have enough information here. First, does the ex and your wife both have the boys an equal amount of time? (You know, like a perfectly 50/50 situaton?) Then the switching exemptions makes sense (kind of.)
Otherwise, whoever has custody of the children can claim them–except for the divorce decree part that gives away the exemption and child tax credit.
As far as the child care credit goes–the custodial parent gets to claim that–so the child care credit goes with the head of household and EIC.
I hope that gives enough of an answer for your question. You won’t know the child has been claimed until you file and get rejected–and there’s no way to do a “pre-emptive strike”. Sorry.
Hi, I have a 7 old with my x whom I never married. I have never recieved child support from him. I am now married (almost two years now with someone new) and we moved out of state due to his employment. I filed for child support through this new state where I live and my x was the only person who attended the court for it in the state he lives in. child support was established, and he just recently started getting his paycheck garnished. I have not recieved any paperwork from either court. so I dont know what was agreed upon, and he says that the judge signed an order saying we had to take turns claiming our son on income tax. I never agreed to that and our son has always lived with me and my husband and i have been supporting him. I claimed him on our taxes and so did my x, but he says I will be in trouble because he has a court order saying he can claim him. Am i in trouble or not?
Well I have a reverse question I am divorced with 2 children and my ex wife has physical custody and we share joint custody.. she did not work last year and I have been paying over $700 a month in child support. she is on state assantance (i.e. food stamps and medicad) she lives with her parents. she refused to sign the 8332 form for me to be able to claim my children.. my thoughts are she is letting her father claim our kids.. is there any thing I can do??
I have a question. My husband and I separated on November 26, 2010 after 23 years of marriage. He went and filed income taxes in January 2011, filing as married but separate, and claiming our two children. When I went to file, it was rejected. I tried to file married but separate also, but because I could not claim my higher education credits or my daughters higher education credits, it left me with a federal tax bill of 3300, and a state tax bill of 2,000, so I did not file. Now I am getting a notice about my missing 2010 return. Can I force my spouse to file an amended return for 2010? The funny thing is, we would have gotten a refund if we had filed a joint return.
I there a number you can call to reverse a tax refund. My ex claimed my daughter when I am the legal custodial parent and I provide all support for this child. I do not even get child support.
Hi again thanks for your quick response.. My other question was in the state of MA when filing my taxes it says I either have to be a custodial parent or a non-custodial parent when claiming dependents ..I dont know which I am although I know I cant be a custodial parent because theyre my nephews and their mom has custody of them so do I put that I am the non-custodial parent.. I live in the same apartment as my nephews and their mom..
back in 2009 my ex claimed our son without consulting me. I did’n’ find out until recently that I can reclaim the past EIC. It took me a while to get my old job’s W-2 since they moved. I just got that and rightfully our son at a year old lived with me all year. He visited his father a few times and when he was sick he registered at the hospital with his address and he shouldn’t have. I know when I submit the 2009 for the first time, I will get audited based on the answers I have read. All Of his insurance records, medical records, birth records have been registered with me. Does that matter in an audit?
Hi.
My ex, Jane, claimed our daughter, Amy, on her taxes. Amy”s mom, Jane, doesn’t live with her. Amy doesn’t live with me either. She currently resides with her grandmother. Jane’s residence is unknown but probably uses her mother’s address as her permanent address. Jane doesn’t not contribute to Amy’s activities, school and other needs. I provide all of Ashley’s costs for living, school, medical purposes. In addition, I am with Ashley on a daily basis–yes, daily! Amy just “sleeps” at her grandmother’s home. Amy’s address on her school file is of her grandmother’s. All of Amy’s medical reports, reciepts show my address.
How can I get this resolved with the IRS.?
…Just wanted to add that we do have 50/50 custody in the court order but now that I am trying to file her, the mother keeps playing games on when I get to get my daughter. I’m thinking that she knows there will be an investigation and she is trying to intentionally keep her from me so she can say I didn’t have her. She ignores my calls and my requests to get her. Any suggestions?
Me and my baby’s mother have 50/50 custody, I pay child support, and we are suppose to alternate years for claiming our daughter. Our daughter is 4 years old and I have allowed her mother to claim her all 4 years. Now I am working and I feel it’s my turn rightfully so. So, I told her mother that I would be claiming her on this years forms and she said okay. Then a week or so later, after I already turned my forms in, she came back and said that she was going to be filing. I don’t know what to do. What are my chances at winning? I dont think its fair that she claims her for 4 years and the one year that I ask to she starts trouble. Can someone let me know what I am going up against? Thanks so much!
my wife’s ex-husband is a real db. their divorce decree states they should alternate claiming one their boys every other year. last year she claimed the youngest, this year she is supposed to claim the oldest. this afternoon she received a txt saying he was claiming the oldest. because of the nature of our taxes, it is going to take longer to file and we are worried about our taxes getting rejected. is this something we will just have to wait and then file via mail and let the irs figure out? also, we were told that he would be unable to claim the child care exemption. is this true?
thanks ~
Well Jessica–
It sounds like you just won. It’s hard to raise a child while in jail or homeless so I think your ex just lost. Unfortunately, I’m not sure that’s going to speed up your case any faster. As far as timelines–I’ve been hearing 16 weeks, up to 5 months. Readers–anybody got any better numbers for Jessica? Maybe someone who had to do it last year? Thanks for your input.
Hi Colleen,
The easiest way to find out if someone has claimed your children on a tax return is to electronically file wth the IRS. If someone else has claimed your child, your federal tax return will automatically be rejected. You’ll get an error message that says you dependent’s social security number was used on another tax return.
If you e-file and there’s no reject–if somebody tries to claim your child after you, their return will be rejected and they can’t do it without paper filing a return. If that happens, you will get a letter from the IRS asking you if you made a mistake. If you didn’t make a mistake, you just say no–and the audit process will begin.
Hi Sophia,
Right now, there’s nothing you can do. I’m actually working on a petition to the Obama administration about that problem. If someone used your social security number fraudulently, you can get a pin number to protect your tax return. The IRS doesn’t do this for children’s numbers that have been misused. Please check in next week, I should have the petition up by then. Thanks. (We’re going to need 25,000 signatures to get them to even look at the issue so I’m really going to need your help.)
Hi Mandy,
Because you’re a family (nine years together and two kids–you’re a family married or not.) Quick and dirty answer–just have him file too, as single and get it done. I can make a really good argument to make you head of household, I’m not concerned about that.
Now–that’s the quick answer. Now there’s the “maximize your money” answer. I always say this–because you’re not married but living together–you can play this game. Whether you do it yourselves or work with a pro–you sit down and work out the biggest refund (smallest tax owed) by moving around your kids. Only you claim the oldest boy (because your boyfriend really can’t for EIC) but move the other two around between your returns until you max out our refund.
When you do that, you should always be single and he should always be head of household–unless you’re claiming all three–then your boyfriend has to be single. And that’s okay–the kids are yours, you’re claiming them, that makes you head of household and him single.
Now, lets say that you claiming the three isn’t your best option–wait until you receive your refund before you amend your tax return. Hope that helps.
So I tried to claim my daughter on taxes and it was rejected because someone used my daughter on their taxes. I’m assuming it was my ex and he is now back in jail. I am waiting for my audit papers and plan to send them in a.s.a.p but my question is how long does he have to return the papers ? He is homeless and in and out of jail so hard to locate. I was just wondering if he doesn’t respond, which I’m assuming he won’t, how long will they wait to make a decision ?
Hi Char–
Here’s something you need to know: Your ex not only doesn’t get EIC and head of household–he can’t claim the dependency exemption and child tax credit either!
Here’s why–your agreement has conditions–the condition that he pays child support. Even if he did pay his child support–it doesn’t matter, because the only thing the IRS cares about is a form called an 8332. For him to claim anything–you would have to sign a form 8332 to allow your ex to claim the dependency exemption and child tax credit. Your ex messed up.
Now–all you have to do is paper file your return. Yes you’ll get the audit letter etc. but you just have to prove that you have physical custody for over half of the year.
Do not send anything in with your return.
When audit time comes you’ll want to provide school records and things like that. You do not have to prove he didn’t pay child support–the IRS doesn’t care. And, your ex’s tax debt is not your problem, it’s his. You asked about having to go to court–what’s your ex going to say? “Gee, I didn’t keep up my end of the bargain by paying my required child support so she filed taxes claiming my kid and WON the IRS case, so I’d like to sue for damages?” Okay, I’m not an attorney and I’m not allowed to give legal advice–but really–does he stand a chance? He made this mess, he gets to clean it up himself–oh, and that’s my professional tax opinion, not just my spouting off. You’re not his wife any longer–you can’t be held accountable for his current tax mistakes. And–it is HIS MISTAKE, not yours.
Kristen–
I don’t know–I think your husband is pretty lucky to have such a stanch advocate in you.
But you’re right–Dad’s tend to get the short end of the stick when it comes to these issues. Back when I was working for one of the big tax companies I did a lot of EIC work. (That’s why I know this stuff, I used to do a lot of EIC audits.) One summer I did 8 EIC audits in a row–of the 8, 7 were men. The thing the men all had in common was that they claimed EIC for their kids but they didn’t claim a child care credit (form 2441.) There was a presumption that if you were a man and had a kid, you had to pay a daycare. I never did an EIC audit for a woman just because she didn’t pay for daycare. It’s stuff like that that makes you go hmmmmm.
With privacy laws and such, I don’t know if there’s anyway to find out what she’s getting–but I do know that the IRS looks at paperwork from social workers to prove custody. But you said social security–that would mean the ex is claiming disability (or claiming that your husband’s dead?) I went to the social security website to check on reporting fraud: http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/48
But you need so much information, I don’t know if you could answer all the questions. Still…
I wish I could be more help. Sorry. But don’t give up the fight! You know you’re in the right. Good luck.
Is there a way to find out if someone has already tried to claim or did claim your children?
my husband and I have been audited for our 2010 taxes due to his ex claiming their daughter as we did. I am able to prove by documentation that she lived with us, so Im hoping we shouldn’t have any issues. BUT I called the IRS to discuss it and they told me that the mother is listed as the custodial parent by social security because she is receiving aide somehow. Do you know much about this? Does that mean she is currently claiming aide? how did the IRS get that information and why would they deem that sufficient information? I’m blown away at how this woman (the ex) can walk into any office and claim the daughter and noone questions it. How can we find out if she is receiving financial assistance. She lies about everything, and so much of our energy is spend figuring out how we can rid ourselves of her actions. She has tried to pull her out of school without him knowing, she has tried to change her address at the doctors office, now it seems she is collecting aide. I honestly, as a woman, feel that our current system is too favored towards woman. Not all dads are deadbeat, but they are all treated that way. He has to have a lawyer for anyone to even listen to him, that is so not right. Im extremely frustrated with the system. Sorry, i just feel like sometimes dads need a voice too!
My husband’s divorce paper state that he can claim one child and his ex wife can claim the other. For the past 2 years she has claimed both. We have been audited for the past 2 years and the IRS recently found it in our favor. She did it again this year. I understand that we will have to go though the same process again but because this is the 3rd year is there something we can do legally?
Hello,
I currently live with my boyfriend of 9 years. I have a older son which is not his child as well as two other children that are his. I have full rights to the oldest boy b/c his dad isn’t around. I have already filed my taxes for 2011 and were exepted, and claimed all three kids on mine. I just realized that he is head of household and should be claiming them. He has not filed yet b/c he is self employed and is waiting on things still. So considering mine was done already and his hasn’t, how or what is the easiest way to fix this without putting up red flags? I can amend my taxes and take them off, and pay the difference back to irs or should I just take certain credits off mine. I made 18,000 and he makes roughly 27,000.
Please help!! I need to fix this so we can get money fast!!
Thank you very much for providing this article! I went into a panic last night when my e file was immediatley rejected due to my dependent’s SSN already being used this year as a dependent. Your article helped calm my racing heart! I am positive it was my ex. We divorced in 2005, but the child support was modified in 2010 which allowed for my ex to claim my son as a dependant for 2011 as long as his child support was paid in full through Dec 31. The permission to take the exemption came at the bottom of a page with the conditons to be met at the top of the next page… I am certain that he did not read that far. I am also certain that he claimed head of household and EIC… he just doesn’t know what he is doing and I am sure from the way we filed our taxes when we were lived together post-divorce led him to believe he could claim HOH and EIC. He hasn’t paid Child Support since June 2011 and hasn’t had a visit with my son since Aug 2010 so he is entitled to none of this. I am sure he has already received and spent his erroneous refund…
My question: Should I include a copy of the child support mod (aka court order) with a copy from the Clerk of the Courts CS payment records when I mail in my taxes or wait until the IRS begins their audit? It will be easy for the IRS to determine that he should not have claimed HOH or EIC, but without supporting documentation of unpaid CS, it will not be clear that he was not entitled to take my son as an exemption in addition to the EIC and HOH. I do not qualify for the EIC- will that affect his ability to take it? Will the IRS hold him directly accountable for his incorrect tax filing, or will they make it my responsibility to fight him in court?
Again, thank you for the time you spend sharing your knowledge and expertise!
Jill,
you meet the relationship and the residency test–those are the two big issues. The next big issue is can your sister claim them? If she can, then she should. If she chooses not to and lets you, that’s okay. It works fine for families that are trying to work together. It really stinks when you have a sister who says yes, and then turns around and claims her kid anyway because then you’re the one who loses out and gets blamed.
You know your sister best. But–legally (from what I’m hearing) you can claim them as long as she doesn’t.
Hi, I lived with my sister and her 2 young children for the enitre year of 2011 and supported the household … Is it ok for me to claim her 2 children with her permission and am I considered a custodial or non custodial parent when it comes to filing my taxes ..Any help would be appreciated thanks in advance.
Hey Gloria,
I think the problem is there is a maximum of three children that you can claim EIC on. Your boyfriend got the child tax credit on all four because there’s no limit there.
Since you and your boyfriend live together–you can’t split the exemptions–you can split the kids, but you can’t have him claim the child tax credit and you get EIC because you have the same address.
Since you’ve got the student loan issue, it’s smart to let him claim all the kids–even if you’re losing out on some of the money.
One more thing about the student loan–one of my clients had student loan problems and she made a payment arrangement with them. Once she got a certain number of payments made on time, they lifted the lien on her taxes. Since she had a refund coming, we just filed an extention in April and turned in her taxes later in September after the lien was removed. It’s worth a try–those student loans will hang over your head for the rest of your life so if you can get them under control and manage them instead of having them manage you it could make your life a lot easier. Good luck.
Hi Eric,
You and thousands of other people are victimized by people claiming their children every year. I’m in the process of putting together a petition to the Obama administration to prevent this type of abuse by providing parents that have won your type of claim for two years in a row a special pin number to use on their children’s social security numbers.
We’re going to need 25,000 signatures to get the attention of the White House. I just drafted the petition yesterday and I sent it to someone who can actually write to fix it up. (Taxes–I’m pretty good, writing–well, needs some owrk. See what I mean?) Please come back to this site next week and I’ll have links to the petition web site.
Will it work? I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of faith in politicians helping the American people these days. But if we don’t ask, we won’t get any relief. And you can see by the comments here that you’re not alone.
Sorry, I don’t have a better answer for you. But maybe if we work together I’ll be able to give people some helpful answers instead of –so sorry, that’s just the way it is.
Patrick,
To answer your other question about a translation of: The IRS has already received a tax return with the same Social Security number or taxpayer identification number as your dependent’s (Form 2441: Child and Dependent Care Expenses).
Oooooooo–I was going to just do my standard answer, but this is a little different. This is only talking about form 2441–that’s the form people use to claim a tax credit for day care. It doesn’t sound like they were denying your claim to the dependency exemption–just the day care.
A couple of issues (sorry I know I’m long winded):
1. Only the custodial parent can claim day care expenses–if you’re doing the 8332 non-custodial parent thing, then I think if you just take the day care credit off of your tax return, then you can e-file and be done.
2. Wouldn’t that be nice and easy? Of course it would, but that’s why I’m guessing it might not be–Go back and look at the rejection notice. Is that all there is or does it scroll down and list a bunch more stuff? (My reject code in my tax program is a little box and sometimes it looks like there’s only one thing but you gotta scroll for all of it.)
Anyway, if that’s all there is, lose form 2441 and you should be fine. Maybe not–if might get rejected again for something else. (Maybe something fixable, maybe not but you won’t know until you try.)
By the way, this fixing and resending is not a “problem” as far as efiling goes. I once had to “fix” a tax return 6 times to get it to efile (weird problem with the child’s name.) If someone’s claimed your child that shouldn’t, then you will have to paper file, but if you’re just claiming dependency and child tax credit–if your ex did her paperwork correctly then you should still be able to e-file.
Hi Again so I decided to do my boyfriend’s taxes including all our kids together (even though he has been denied in the past for our older ones) I have a big problem I need to resolve with old student loans before I can even file.
My question is he did not quialify for the EIC on all 4 kids because of his income.And by what I understand he has been denied the EIC not the Child Tax Credit. Is that what Usually gets denied?
I earn so much less and I’ve been reading here that I can claim the EIC but not the child tax credit? is that correct?
Hi Patrick,
A couple of issues for you:
1. Your wife claiming the kids last year should have no effect on your return this year. The IRS firmly claims that they review each year on a separate basis.
2. Someone did claim your child. Even if it wasn’t your wife–someone did do it so you’re going to have to deal with the whole audit thing anyway. (And if it wasn’t your ex–don’t your really want to know?)
3. Do you have custody or does your ex? If she has custody, she can still fill out the 8332 for you. I’m guessing that your return will still be rejected for e-file, but at least you’ll have the necessary paperwork. But here–who has the children?
a. If you’ve got custody of the kids-no 8332.
b. If you don’t have custody–she signs the 8332 and you get exemption and child tax credit–no EIC, no head of household
c. If she has custody–why didn’t she claim her own children on her tax return?
No one but the custodial parent or custodial relative may claim EIC on a tax return for a child–she can’t give that up to a boyfriend or somebody who doesn’t live with her–that would be fraud.
I’m thinking you really want the audit–something’s rotten in Denmark. (Okay, we’re in the USA, but the quote was appropriate.)
Hi Hoan,
While the gene pool issue is important–what the IRS is looking at is who has physical custody of the child. If the biological mom doesn’t live with the kids–she can’t be claiming them.
Every year when my wife and i file our taxes we get flagged because her ex husband has already tried claiming her son, even though he lives with us all year and she has custody. and every year we have to overnight our tax returns with proof that the son lives with us. How is he able to get away with this year after year. You would think the IRS would have him profiled and red flagged. He needs to be charged with fraud because he knows the child does not live with him yet still he files each year. Who can we contact in the IRS to make him stop doing this??
The IRS has already received a tax return with the same Social Security number or taxpayer identification number as your dependent’s (Form 2441: Child and Dependent Care Expenses). If the information on your return is correct, you won’t be able to e-file. You’ll need to print, sign, and mail your return.
This is the error message I received….what does this all mean in non-irs language?
I just tried e-filing my return and it was rejected due to someone else claiming my child as a dependent, the only viable reason is my ex wife may have claimed her. I confronted her and she said she filed single with no dependents…my question or questions are 1) can her information from last year effect my claim this year?..in our divorce decree it states that we can claim our child alternating years….she claimed her last year and I am to this year. 2) can she fill out form 8332 now after she has already filed to clear this mess up?…would prefer the easiest way out and an audit process seems very intimidating and unnecessary if there is another option.
What if the biologicaal mom claims consecutive years?
So Jen,
I’m guessing that you’ve already read the post about filing a paper return to claim your baby. That’s the way you start the audit process.
Hello,
I just divorced the father of my baby and we have joint custody 50% and 50%. last year I claimed my child (3 yr old) without a problem. This year when I went to file my taxes via internet, the tax preparer told me my ex-husband had already claimed my baby. My chid spends more time in my house than he doesin my ex-husbands house, beside that i have to pay for baby sitting and other expenses. Is there any legal way to audit him or do something so I can claim my baby.
@Melinda,
I don’t know what will actually happen with the 3949 form. The IRS will never tell you what happens.
Oh, and I forgot to mention it before, please tell you son from me, Thank you for your service to our country.
Hi Rey–
Okay, now I understand. You brother is not allowed to sign an 8332 form for you. He can only sign that to his ex wife, not to you. It is the custodial parent releasing the exemption to the non-custodial parent.
And, you live together, so even if you were the kids’ parent, you couldn’t do it because you two live together. (But–you can’t do it at all because you are not a parent of the children.)
So you guys are trying to be smart and get the most out of the tax return, but you’d be crossing into illegal territory if you claimed those kids. And that’s not what you want to do. In your case, it’s actually kind of lucky that your return got rejected because you guys just made a mistake that would have had some sorry consequences had it gone through (IRS fraud letters aren’t anything you want to deal with.)
So here’s what you do. You have your brother file and claim the kids for everything–EIC, head of household, child tax credit–the whole nine yards. Let him fight it out with his ex via the IRS–it sounds like he’s got a winning case. (If you really are supporting your brother–have him file as single instead of head of household, probably won’t change his refund.)
You file your own return as you normally would.
Hopefully a nice brother would use some of his tax refund to pay you some rent money or something for helping him out, but I have no control over that.
ok. I meant my brother signing form 8336 for me, so I could file them for child tax credit and dependency. And, my brother file his 3 three kids for EIC. We are trying to get the most out of this .. but the only thing was that efiling was rejected due to his ex filing them when my brother had court custody of them since June 2011. i know i cant get EIC for his kids.
Hey Joe–
A couple of things. First, I’m having a hard time getting past your grandfather living in the back yard. Certainly, what you mean and what I’m imagining are two different things. But, I’m thinking Grandfather’s journal is your saving grace.
A few years back, my mom got involved in a lawsuit. One of the issues involved the days that something happened. My mom was already old back then and the lawyers for the other side were going to use her age and her “addled brain” against her. Now my mom, like your grandfather, keeps a calendar. Everything goes on that stupid calendar. And I mean everything. Well, when the lawyers were trying to prove she couldn’t remember stuff, my mom admitted it. She can’t remember anything, that’s why she wrote everything on the calendar. The calendar was admitted as evidence and my mom won the case.
Your grandfather’s journal is your evidence that your daughter lives with you. It is priceless. Please go give your grandfather a hug from me.
Now–one thing you said that does have me concerned–you said something about the child living with the step parents 6 months and 1 day. That’s all your ex needs to be able to claim your daughter. If your daughter lived with your ex fro 6 months and 1 day–then they do get to claim her. So make sure that Grandpa’s journal comes out in your favor.
Rey–
Hold on! You’ve got lots of issues.
1. Your brother has the right to claim his children, not you.
2. An 8332 form signed by his ex means the your brother, not you, has the right to claim his children for the dependency exemption and the child tax credit. He is not entitled to claim EIC.
3. If your brother has custody of the children, and truly has had them for more than 6 months–why would his ex give him an 8332? If anything, it should be the other way around.
4. If you do have a legal claim for filing the children–then you will sbumit a paper tax return–but do not submit the school papers and stuff with the tax return, it will only get lost.
Most importantly, before you file a tax return claiming those children–go to the IRS website and make sure you have some basis to your claim: http://apps.irs.gov/app/eitc2011/SetLanguage.do?lang=en
You’ve got some conflicting information in your post. I recommend hiring a professional or going to one of the free tax clinics to get some help before you submit your return. You really don’t want to open an audit if you’re not the one in the right.
This is what it said on turbo tax,”Dependent SSN on Line 6c column 2 of the return was used as a Dependent SSN in a previously filed tax return for the same tax period.”