There’s a big difference between accidentally claiming your child and criminal tax fraud.
I often hear the question, “Will I go to jail if I cheat on my taxes?” People see celebrities go to prison all the time, Richard Hatch, the guy who won a million dollars winning “Survivor”was been all over the news for awhile for tax evasion. He spent four years in prison. Note: if you win a million dollars on national television, it’s safe to assume that the IRS knows about it and is looking for it on your tax return. Other celebrity tax evaders include Wesley Snipes, Darryl Strawberry and Willie Nelson. (And the list goes on and on….)
But what about EIC fraud? What happens to you when you claim a child that’s not yours, or if you allow someone to claim your child when that person isn’t the parent? What’s the punishment there?
If the IRS examines your return and finds that you cannot claim EIC, the worst case scenario would be that they impose “civil fraud” penalties on your return. The penalty for civil fraud is 75% of your underpayment of income tax.
Say for example that you involved yourself in a scheme where you claimed children that didn’t belong to you over the course of three years. The difference between what you received as a tax refund averaged $5,000 more each year than if you didn’t illegally claim those children for a total of $15,000 in excess refund dollars. When the IRS catches up with you, they will demand their $15,000 plus another $11,250 for the penalty which would make your balance due $26,250. Add to that the interest you’d be charged and you see how costly this is.
What makes this even worse is that if you are charged with civil fraud the IRS can then turn the case over to the Criminal Investigation Division for prosecution. You could face both civil and criminal penalties at the same time—meaning they put your butt in jail, levy your bank account and put a lien on your house and any other property you own.
Most people who get caught for EIC fraud don’t have the money to pay back the tax owed, not to mention the added fines. And of course, the higher the dollar amount owed to the IRS, the higher the likelihood of criminal charges. So you really don’t want to hear the word “fraud” if the IRS comes calling.
But that’s the worst case scenario, fraud is pretty dangerous stuff, and they have to be able to build a case for it. One of the key points of fraud is that you knew you were doing it. I once spoke to a potential client over the phone, she had received an IRS letter and they were charging her penalties for fraud. As she explained her case, she kept insisting that “she didn’t know.” I thought there might be a case for her so I asked, “You mean you didn’t know it was wrong to claim someone else’s child?” She said, “No, I didn’t know I could get caught.” That’s not going to get you off of fraud charges. I gave her the name of an attorney—if there’s a possibility of criminal charges, you’ll want the tax attorney over the EA or CPA. (EAs and CPAs have client privilege for tax issues only, for criminal cases, only an attorney has privilege—meaning what you tell them, they can’t tell on you.)
In most cases though, a much more likely scenario is an accuracy related penalty—that would be 20% of the under-reporting. Let’s say you live with your girlfriend, she has a kid, she said you could claim the kid; you don’t know it’s illegal but you get caught. You’ll have to pay back the EIC plus the accuracy related penalty. If the EIC difference was $5000, then you’d add another $1250 making the balance due $6,250. The IRS would add interest to that as well.
Generally, if you lose an EIC audit, you’ll also be banned from claiming EIC for somewhere between 2 and 10 years depending upon the severity of the case. That’s probably the worst penalty for most people. Many of the people who get in trouble for EIC generally are able to claim EIC in other years. Being banned from EIC for 10 years can cost a person over $50,000. That’s a lot of money.
Accuracy penalties usually involve amounts of over $5,000. If your EIC under-reporting is less than that, you’re more likely to pay “late payment” penalties which are equal to ½ of one percent per month. For example, you file your return in February of 2008, in March of 2010 they catch up with you. This means that the penalties have been adding up for 24 months, you’ll pay 12% for the penalty, plus the interest owed. Let’s say you only got an extra $1000 for falsely claiming EIC, you’d have to pay back $1,120 plus interest of course. The IRS will always get their interest payment.
But what if it’s not my fault? That’s a very common question. What if it really isn’t your fault? What happens if you went to a preparer that didn’t know any better and claimed EIC for you when she shouldn’t have. Or worse, you had a crooked preparer. (These things really do happen.)
You’ll have to report the preparer. There are serious fines and penalties for tax preparers associated with EIC negligence and fraud. The smallest, yet the easiest to prove, is the EIC due diligence paperwork. For every tax return that has EIC on it, a paid preparer must have a form 8867. Here’s a link to see what it looks like: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8867.pdf
The link is to the official IRS form. In my office, my computer software actually uses the same form but I’m required to sign it and have my client sign it as well basically stating that everything on the EIC form is true. Here’s the thing—the IRS can call up any tax office at any time and say, “Hey, we’re coming to audit your 8867 EIC forms.” As the owner of a tax business, I have to be able to pull them all and have them ready for inspection. If I don’t have an 8867 form for every EIC tax return I prepare, its $100 for each one I’m missing. Guess what, I’m not going to be missing any of those forms. I can’t afford it and I don’t prepare that many EIC returns. You can bet that an office with lots of EIC returns has itself covered in the forms department.
So here’s where I’m going with this, if your preparer really is crooked, do report him to the IRS, it’s the right thing to do. But if you lied to your preparer about your relationship to the child you claimed or some other EIC offense, and the IRS goes to the preparer’s office and pulls the 8867 forms, and they find a signed affidavit with your signature saying that you are the actual parent of the child—now you’ve just proved that you committed a fraud. That’s the last thing you want to do. Remember, a plain error costs a lot less than fraud and there’s no jail time involved.
So what should I do if I receive an EIC audit letter? If you have the rightful claim to EIC, fight it. If you’re not sure, maybe you do, maybe you don’t—seek professional help. I’ve seen innocent people lose EIC audits because they didn’t know the rules. Don’t take chances, it’s too costly. If you know for a fact that you should not have claimed a child, pay up and get it over with as quickly as possible. It won’t be easy, but in the long run it will be better for you.
If you know that you’ve illegally claimed EIC, don’t wait for the IRS to come after you. File an amended return and pay the tax. You’ll definitely have to pay interest, but by filing an amended return and paying before you get an IRS letter, you have a very good chance of avoiding the penalties. You’ll probably sleep better too.
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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
Hi.. I added a parent to my tax that I help out occasionally and put myself as head of household. (they dont live with me) I have no other dependents. my tax preparer told me that it was okay a parent does not have to live with you if you assist them… Never did it before. For 2012 I have to pay and I am on a payment installment for my 2011 taxes. Thing is I am not comfortable with it but he assured me I it was legit… At this point I rather just do an amendment and pay the $1000 extra… But he is advising me not to do an amendment which makes me think he is shady. If I do not have enough proof I helped my parent what will happen if audited.. will they just change the filing status and I have to pay the $ back with interest?
i got a letter in the mail from the city treasurer saying that i have an amount due for for a business license tax. i dont have a business license nor have i ever had one or owned a business. the amount is very small but the point is if i call them and tell them that i dont have a license will i get in trouble for it. Because im afraid they will think i lied about having one, when i didnt. it also says business licenses are due by 1/08/2013, and penalty and interest will be charged after that date., i dont even know what that means….its past that day.
what should i do? i dont want to get in trouble and i dont want to keep paying for something i dont have. Please help.
My exe and I have been alternating years to claim our child per our divorce agreement. That is about the only financial part of the divorce agreement that is being followed. We were awarded joint custody but I pay all of the medical and school expenses even though we are supposed to split them. For years I have been frustrated by not being able to claim our child when I am being forced to carry a heavier financial burden. I am considering claiming my child this year even though our divorce agreement stipulates that it is my exe’s year. Do I have any chance of winning this battle? If I file and the IRS rules against me, how large would the financial penalties be?
Hi Jan,
Brandi here again, you advise me to have my fiance amend his tax returns. Well now on the where’s my refund site he gets a message saying that his return is being review and should recieve a letter within 30 days. So, do you think he should wait for the letter or go ahead and do the amended return today?
Thanks so much for your help!
So, if a person hasn’t been caught for EIC fraud… should they just amend the tax return and pay all the money back? Will this prevent them from getting into trouble?
Also, how long do you have to amend a tax return? I know the standard time is 3 years but do they allow exceptions or a grace period?
Hi Brandy,
I’ve been lobbying about that issue for a year now. I understand. The Treasury Inspector General actually did a report on the same issue and asked the IRS to issue PIN numbers to parents like you. The IRS said no. So there you have it.
Keep plugging away. You are a victim of identiy theft. I once worked on a case, turns out someone was going into the hospital and stealing babies SSNs from the nurse’s desk. It’s amazing what they do. Good luck.
Hi Liza,
your niece has lived with you for 6 months, but probably not 6 months in 2012. Also, she’s going to school in a different state? That’s also a problem.
You may wish to talk to someone in person, just to make sure. You can find free tax help on the IRS website.
Hi Gerald,
Yes, people can get into a lot of trouble for claiming children they shouldn’t be claiming. But there may be more to the story that you don’t know –it’s quite possible she’s doing the right thing.
Hi Brandi,
Have your fiance amend his tax return. If he does it before April 15th, it won’t go on his permanent record.
Hey AJ,
Truth be told, you did commit fraud didn’t you? Now I’m guessing that you’re not an EA, RTRP, or a CPA are you? So you’re not covered by the ethical standards that professional preparers who must follow circular 230 are under. Otherwise, you’d look up the sanctions listed there.
Do you work for a big company like H&R Block? I’d expect to get fired. Or do you work for yourself? I’d expect the IRS to show up at your doorstep and audit your EIC documentation.
If this is the only naughty thing you’ve ever done, you’ll probably be okay in the audit. If you’ve been playing fast and loose with the EIC rules, remember the the penalty has gone up from $100 per return to $500 per return for not having proper due diligence. You should probably get your ducks in a row.
Hi Concerened,
I honestly don’t know when the IRS decides on “jail” versus just fines. There’s actually a formula that I saw once related to dollar amounts (like you said, Wesley Snipes owed over a million–definitely jail). That said, every so often they get a bee in their behind about someone.
Usually, with EIC fraud, if it’s truly a family member–there’s not jail, it’s just a fine. But if it’s a person who is not related–the likelihood of prison jumps up and up with the more children claimed and the amount of cash–and then it doesn’t have to be millions. If read of lots of cases in Florida where they’ve caught EIC fraudsters and tossed them in jail–I’m not sure if that’s because they have more fraud in Florida or if the IRS prosecutors are more aggressive there.
That’s about as much information on that as I’ve got. Sorry.
Hi Sara,
I agree with you. The IRS has new rules that people are supposed to do more what they call “due diligence”. But if tax preparers don’t bother, it won’t get better. Sorry your parents are being bullied.
Hi Rose,
The best way to get your ex into trouble is for you do go ahead and file your documents. That’s the best way to get at him. Nothing is more effective. Don’t be lazy about that.
Hi Ashlee,
Are you sure you’re in the wrong? You say your “ex-step sister”. She’s your step sister. Just because your parents divorced, aren’t you still step sisters?
If that’s the only reason you’re in the wrong–I’d fight on that one. If there’s other reasons you’re in the wrong–then okay. Here’s what you do–go ahead and explain to the IRS that you made a mistake. You’ll have to pay back what you owe, you’ll probably need to set up an installment agreement–I’m guessing it’s too much to just pay off.
It’s no fun to pay back the IRS, but if you’re truly in the wrong, that’s really your only option. Maybe you could do an offer in compromise or something, but check out all your other options first. Good luck.
Hi Leann,
Married filing separately gets no EIC. If they live together and say they’re not married, (claiming head of household) well yes that is tax fraud.
Hi Mariah,
submit your tax return by mail. Line up those documents and be ready for the IRS audit. Sounds like you’ve got a winning case.
Hi Pam,
So much for the promises to fix it. The Office of the Treasury Inspector General made a report and made suggestions to the IRS about this saying that people like you should be given a PIN number for their kids. The IRS said, thanks for the suggestion, we’re going to do our own thing.
Well, you see how that’s working. Sorry.
Michael,
I told you on another page, no EIC unless you have actual custody of the child. She must live with you.
i know a woman who claimed her daughter for a dependent,she pays child support but i know for a fact the child doesnt live in with her because the child is in states custody for almost a year can woman get in any trouble claiming child for all that extra money?
Hello Jan,
Here is my issue: My fiance filed his taxes online by himself this year. I didn’t work, so he is claiming me, my 2 kids and our 1 child that we have together. He assumed that since he is able to claim my 2 kids that the would also be able to get the eic for them too, so he checked yes next to their names on his returns. I know that he is only allowed the eic for our 1 child together. So what should we do to correct this? It was an honest mistake and I don’t want him in trouble for something he thought was right.
Hi
What can I do in this situation? I am a paid tax preparer. I was told that a angry family member of mine falsely reported me to the IRS claiming that I committed fraud with her boyfriends tax return. The truth of the matter is that she wanted me to and I told him about it anyway. He was audited and she is angry at me saying I did something to cause the audit. This is ridiculous. She doesn’t understand that I did the work, spent the time and was never paid. Why would I do something to cause a red flag to go off? I DONT LIKE WORKING FOR FREE. So what can I expect from the IRS by her accusing me of misconduct?
For the last 3 years someone I don’t know who has been using my 9 year olds social security number on their tax returns. The first two times I was told by my tax preparer someone had used the number but it could be a simple clerical error and if anything came up we would have to prove he was our child, nothing ever came out of it so we didn’t worry and we recieved the money. They just started sending letters in the mail that we need to prove residency and we went to file again this year and was told we were rejected due to someone using our sons social security number. So now we are going to file by paper hoping it will throw up a red flag. No one that we know has his number and me and my husband are together and we always file jointly so we have no idea who it is. We have tried calling the fraud hotline but they don’t seem to care, have visited the irs in person they don’t seem to care. I have put together so much proof to give them, but still feel uneasy because this is my child and no one but my husband and I seem concerned. I have asked them to give me a pin but they said we didn’t need one. I’m looking at what is my son going to do when he becomes an adult. Anything could happen. I just need some advice on what else I can do to show the irs I mean buisness and want this situation solved and someone prosecuted as this is SO very stressfull. Thanks so much.
For EIC fraud – when does the IRS prosecute? I mean if someone is willing to pay the amount owed, will they still go on and take them to court? Especially if the amount is under $15,000?
These are just questions I am asking – no one that I know of is in trouble.. not at all.
I mean EIC fraud is not a major deal like the Wesley Snipes case (not filing his taxes at all) right?
How far can they go back for EIC fraud? as long as they want… I mean I see a lot of people who get away with this stuff all the time and years have passed and they are absolutely fine. Can you please explain further?
i forgot to mention her daughter has never been claim in the past since her father is in another country in the caribean and my sister has never worked on the books
im 23 years old….my half sister lives in new jersey which is where her daughter used to live at 6 months ago till there was a lil family problem and her daughter ended up living with me and my boyfriend for the past 6 months…we have been providing her with everything she needs…the only thing is that she is 16 years of age and she goes to school but in jersey which we take her to school since is only 45 min away….i didn’t change her school cause idk she almost done so i didn’t want her to start new some where else….my only problem is i don’t really have any prove that she here with me beside the fact that my half sister is okay with it….so idk if it was okay for me to claim her or if i wasn’t supposed to? also I’m guessing can they find out her school isn’t in the same state as where i file my taxes….??? will they probably question me about that??…i still haven’t receive no money from them so idk what should i do??… I’m really scare cause I’m not sure if i did the right things…
So my two uncles have been putting me and my 2 other siblings in their taxes, even though we’re clearly not their children, and we don’t live with them. This has pussed me off for so many years, because our parents should use us in their taxes, but my uncles don’t let them. They have been illegally using us in their taxes just to get money. This has been going on since I was 6 years old and now I’m 17! We’re way too scared to tell on them. That’s why I hate the law here! I mean, why doesn’t anyone do background checks on the people that do their taxes so they could see if the person that’s using these children in his taxes actually have kids! My uncles don’t even have kids! It kills me that they’ve been getting away with this for so many years. CLEARLY, whoever does the tax returned needs to actually start doing some background Check on the people that turn in taxes. This is so messes up right now. It needs to change!
hi,
my question is, is there anyway to charge someone with a crime against filing taxes on their biological child that has never lived in their home, been in their custody an does not pay child support on?
my childs father has filed taxes on our two daughter for the past four years. everytime i try to claim them i get rejected. i know that i must submit documents an all. ive spoken with the irs. but did not ask them what can i do to stop him in the future from filing again. i mean basically he is stealing money that he dont deserve & my kids he claimed see no benifet from that money cause he dont ever see them talk to them or send any money or gifts. what to do????
I’m in a bit of a rut. I’m not for sure what to do. My ex step sister has 3 kids and when her husband got deported I stepped up and moved in with her to help support her and the children everything was already in their name so I didn’t change anything to my name. But I did give her cash or money orders for rent and bills. Now Im being reviewed what do I need to do I claimed head of house hold and the children as my neices and nephew I was sure I could do it but after research I’m beginning to see that it wasn’t Okay..what do I do?
Hi, A friend of mine got married last year. She wants to claim the EIC. I told her that if her income is above a certain amount, then she won’t be able to. Well, her tax preparer told her that if she hasn’t changed her social security card to her married name, then she can get the EIC. Her and her husband did the married filing separately. I don’t get how they did this. Isn’t it fraud?
My step son lived with me and my husband from april 2012 till oct 2012 his mother was in and out of jail. we provided all his care when he was with us and on top of that fought and fought with child support to stop paying current child support since we had the child. we went to file our taxes and we got rejected stating someone had already claimed the child. she worked one month last year and that was it. We are not sure if she claimed him or her father. he has been claiming him for 5 years to give her the money. but my husbands son had not lived at his grandfathers house at all last year and we have documents to prove he was in our care and that he was the custodial parent durning that time. What can we do i feel he should have the right since we cared for him more then half the year.
Hi Tanesha,
You need to contact the IRS and let them know that you are a victim. You’ve got some issues that need to be resolved. I’m concerned that you could be in real trouble.
Hi Miranda,
Get your amended return all set and ready to go. I still wouldn’t send it until you receive your refund. That said–if you get a letter or notice saying that someone else claimed your neice–you’ll have your amended return ready to go. Besides, you’re also amending your gambling winnings as well.
I do understand that you want to amend as quickly as possible–but try to hold off a bit. Check the “where’s my refund” and follow the progress. If something goes wrong they should give you some type of code to tell you what the problem is.
Hi Jan,
My ex (never married) and I have a 7-year-old daughter who we have a join custody agreement. She hasn’t had a job in many years. I have claimed her most years but this year she wants her mother (who she is staying with) to claim her (She also has another child from another guy she is no longer with). We both have her a week on and a week off. I have always had a job, purchased a house last year and got married this year as well. I feel un till she gets a job I should claim her. Then we could do a every other year. Any advise is welcome. Thanks
Please help, or inform me what to do next. Please email me! PS, I never signed any paperwork, what do I do?
A friend told me she does taxes. Last year I trusted her. Until I recurved a letter in the mail from my school garnishing my taxes and saying I got over 6 grand back from returns. She put her kids on my claim and IDidnt know nor did I agree. When asked for my pin to claim my taxes this year, she said she had an associate do my taxes! I mever knew that! I’ve been up crying and sick about it because I don’t know what to d!
Hello Jan, I have a situation which Im sure you hear many times. I want to amend my taxes which I sent for this year. I still have not gotten my returns back but I need to amened to show some lottery winnings I failed to report and also after caluculating the time my niece were with me I noticed it was not 6 months. It was a little less so I would like to take them off but I am afraid if I do at this point that they are going to think I am reporting false EIC credit. Do you think they well penalize me for this? Or how about if they audit me and denie the EIC before I even send the Amended Form. I dont want to look like “hey I falsely repoted they were with me 6 months and now I want to report I lied.” Because I Do Not know how these people think sometimes you want to correct and error but they look at you like if it was not and error like you lied all along. I am still going to file an amendment but what happens if I recive an audit letter before I send in the amendment?? Im I screwed? I mean it was only by 1 month off they were with me 5 months but even if they ask for proff I would not have any other then a swoen statement from my sister that they were with me but it don matter at this point because it was not 6 months. I hope I dont get audit but I want to correct this I do not want to take the money and then be penalized and screwed after. Its better to talk with the truth and it well set one free
Kimberly,
Your answer is over here: http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2011/05/oops-there%e2%80%99s-a-mistake-in-my-taxes-how-do-i-fix-it-amended-returns/
You are fine. Just amend your return. Everything will be okay. 🙂
Hi Jan,
You have another one of these sites/question and answer pages up somewhere with google and I asked a question on it, and now I can’t find it to get my answer 🙁
At Casey,
You prepared you ex boyfriend’s tax return.
He is the father of your kids.
He is your ex–he doesn’t live with you anymore, right?
He claimed EIC on the kids and he deposited the whole refund into your account.
You kept the EIC and gave him the rest.
Now he wants more money, right?
If I have the facts straight here then this is my answer:
1. It’s against the law for him to claim EIC on kids that he don’t live with. Even if they’re his own–if he didn’t live with them, he doesn’t get EIC.
2. If you want EIC–then you claim your own kids on your own return–you don’t put them on his return and have him pay you. That’s tax fraud.
3. It’s also against the law to have your refund deposited into your tax preparer’s bank account. Now I’m guessing that you’re not a professional preparer so you should be safe on that one, but just in case–I figure I should tell you that.
So basically, what you two did was tax fraud. I’m required by law to give you this advice:
You need to amend both of your tax returns and claim what is rightfully yours. Your refunds should go into your own bank accounts. If you fix your tax returns before April 15th the previoius returns will not go on your tax record.
Now to anybody out there reading this–if you don’t want your money to go to somebody–don’t deposit your refund into their bank account. There is no way for you to get it back!
Now, in this case, he might hire a lawyer and take you to court–but then he’s going to have to admit in court that he commited tax fraud. I’m not a lawyer, I can’t give legal advice, so you’ll want to talk to a lawyer. But from a non-lawyer, common sense point of view, I would not want to go before a judge and say I commited a crime and I’m suing my co-conspirator for my share of the loot. Maybe that’s just me–but that does seem kind of stupid. But like I said, you’ll need to get a professional opinion on that.
My ex boyfriend and I have two children. I recently prepared his taxes for him and allowed him to claim the children even though I am the custodial parent. The refund was split into two account his and my husbands ( I am remarried now). My ex is now angry that he didn’t receive more of the refund into his account. What should I do. What actions could he take. He was present while the taxes where prepared. He electronically signed them to e-file and gave his Tax ID number to verify that he was indeed there and it was him.
Jennifer,
If you claim your mother as a dependent on your taxes the IRS will not levy your refund for her debt. Make sure you meet all the requirements before you claim her, but if you can, do it and don’t worry.
Hi Trinity,
Don’t try to “split” an exemption with your friend. You and your husband should file jointly and claim them on your tax return. If you get a little money to spare, than you may make a gift to her from your refund. But it’s against the law to let someone claim your kids in the manner that you describe and I don’t think you’re wanting to break the law, you just want to do right by your friend. I’d hate to see either of you get in trouble for that.
Amy,
Stick to your guns. It sounds like the mom just wants the EIC and she ain’t going to qualify for it. (Having the court take your children away is usually a warning sign that someone should not claim EIC.)
Face it, by you claiming your neice, you’re helping the country. Seriously–you’re preventing EIC fraud, you’re keeping the national debt from going up a few thousand dollars, and you’re probably keeping drugs out of your ex-sister-in-laws system. (Okay, you didn’t say she was involved with drugs but if the court took the kids away–I made a leaping guess and drugs is probably the nicest option.)
So–thank you for the service you provide to the country. That sounds a bit over the top, but you really think about it–Thanks.
Hi Kelly,
Here’s some information about the nanny tax: http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2011/11/nanny-tax-what-to-do-about-your-household-employees/
You’ll have to check with social services and ssi to find out if your child’s godmother would be in trouble with them for earning the income.
HI,
I was wondering… I was thinking of claiming my mother on my taxes. She has lived with my for the entire year and has no job or other income. I am her sole provider. My problem is this… she still owes some back child support and I am wondering if I claim her as a dependent on my taxes will they garnish my return to pay that debt?
I need help, I have been waiting on a disability decision for 3 years now. I have 3 children. I have been in and out of surgeries and hospitals and have had to have help from a friend. She has been here almost every day and has helped pay bills that we were unable to pay, and bought all of their clothe. Is she allowed to claim my children, or one of them? My husband is their step father, he finally started working last year since she started helping me out. He wanted to “split” the children since we both took care of them, like he claim 2 and she claim one. Is this legal? I sure don’t want to get in trouble and my son is on SSI for his disability also. Please help me so I don’t risk losing my kids or fines, get in trouble or anything else. Thank you.
Hi Robert,
Here’s a link that will help you gather the documents that you need to claim EIC: http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2012/11/what%e2%80%99s-new-with-the-earned-income-tax-credit-you-need-to-know-this/
You can probably claim your nephew, but the question you’re going to need to deal with is–what’s up with the father? Where is he in all this and does he have any rights to the exemption? He’ll be your biggest problem if he has any rights to the exemption.
So I think I have a bit of a sticky situation… My ex sister in law (my brother is non-existent) has 4 children all of which were removed from her home and placed in state custody on May 2, 2012. All of the children were placed with relatives while the state/court is involved. Specifically speaking about my niece, who came to live with me and my husband on August 14th 2012. In between she was living with another aunt. So she spent 122 days with the mother, 103 days with the other aunt and 140 days with my family. I have claimed her as a qualifying relative for the time (5 months) she has spent with us. I had told the mother that I was going to claim her and the other aunt thinks I should claim her since my niece will be adopted by us in a couple months and we will be continuing her care for the next couple of years (she’s just turned 16 at the end of 2012). The mother is throwing a fit since she’s broke and her unemployment has run out and she’s now surviving on her boyfriends’ unemployment income. I feel that I have provided at least half the support for my niece for the year, how do I prove this if needed? Also the mother brought up a multiple support declaration, how would this work if no one can agree to agree? Should I amend and no one claims her? We’re only getting $741 for her so the money’s not really a big deal it’s just that the mother has done nothing to provide for her even when the kids were in her care and I truly feel that she should not have the right to claim the kids. If I do amend and not claim her is there a way to alert the IRS so that no one else may claim my niece without my signature on the declaration also? It’s a big fat mess….. Please help!
i have a question, just wanted to know. my sons god mother was my babysitter last year from march t dec 2012. she receives ssi for her newborn twins and foodstamps during 2012. if i claim her as a babysitter would that mess her up with ssi and foodstamps because of the extra money for babysitting ?
and i meant dependent