Category: Fraudulent Taxes

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Can I Claim My Friend’s Child on My Taxes?

 

Mom with little girl reading book in sofa

Even if you feel like they’re your kids, do not claim children that do not belong to you on your tax return for EIC.

 

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard this scenario:

My friend has 2 kids but she didn’t work last year.  She wants me to claim them for her on my taxes and we’re going to split the money.  Should I do it?

The answer is, NO!  Absolutely not!  It’s tax fraud.  Those children are not yours so claiming them on your tax return is illegal.

But she says we won’t get caught!  

Oh sure, you might not get caught right away, but someone might disapprove of what you’re up to and tell.  For example, let’s say the children’s father finds out and he reports you.  He could make a real problem for you.

The father is out of the picture, he’ll never tell.

Okay, then what happens when she decides that you didn’t give her enough of the refund?  I’ve seen it happen hundreds of times.  The friend claims the kids, the child’s mother gets upset over something and then turns the friend into the IRS for fraud.  Seriously, it happens all the time.  I’m not joking.

My friend’s not like that, we’re like sisters!

You’re like sisters until the child’s father comes back into her life.  Or that new boyfriend decides that he wants some of that tax money.  Or she thinks you cheated her.

Good friends stay good friends when money isn’t in the way.  If there is a problem, and there will be a problem, you will be the one who has committed fraud, not her.  You will be the one who has to pay back the tax, not her.  You will be the one in trouble with the IRS, not her.  Are you listening?  All of the risk is on you.

A good friend won’t ask you to cheat on your taxes.  Sure you’ve probably seen people do it and get away with it.  We’ve all seen people game the system one way or another.  But that doesn’t make it right.  And it doesn’t mean they won’t get caught either.

If I don’t do it, someone else will.  

Probably.  But at least it won’t be you.  You’ll have a clear conscience and you’ll be able to sleep at night.

If you want to know who can legally claim a child for EITC, use the IRS EITC assistant.  When you go to the link, answer all of the questions honestly.      EITC Assistant

It’s a really good tool and will tell you who you can and cannot claim.  It asks very specific questions about your relationship with the dependent you are claiming.  Here’s a clue:  “foster child” means a child that has been placed in your home by the court.  You can’t just call a child your “foster child” because you spend a lot of time with them.  And niece and nephew mean the child of your brother or sister, not the child of your friend.  If you don’t pass the test using the EITC assistant, then do not try to claim EIC on those children.  It’s that simple.

Will your friend be mad at you for turning her down?  Probably yes.  If she’s a real friend, she’ll get over it.  If she’s not a real friend, then you made a real good decision by turning her down didn’t you?

Posted on by Jan Roberg

Putting an End to Other People Fraudulently Claiming Your Children on their Taxes

TIGTA's MISSION: Provide audit and investigative services that promote economy, efficiency and integrity in the administration of the internal revenue laws. Visit them at http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/index.shtml

Every so often, the good guys win.  Every once in a blue moon, putting up a fight for what’s right pays off.  We’ve been campaigning for a long time for the rights of parents whose children have been claimed illegally by other persons.  The IRS has listened, and they’re going to do something about it.

 

Glory Hallelujah!

 

I’d like to tell you that the IRS is responding to the petition that Roberg Tax Solutions sponsored last spring.  I’d like to tell you that but it isn’t true, we didn’t get enough signatures to even get the petition read.

 

But, the IRS is responding to an organization called TIGTA:  Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.  TIGTA’s got the muscle to make some changes.

 

TIGTA was auditing refundable tax credits and found that they were susceptible to fraud.  For those of you who have been victimized by those fraudsters—you realize it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure that out.  But TIGTA was able to come up with some hard numbers—as in of the $2.3 billion dollars that they found to be fraud, the IRS was only able to recover $1.3 billion dollars—that’s a billion dollars gone with the wind!

 

TIGTA’s recommendation is that the IRS implement additional controls to identify and stop erroneous claims for refundable credits before refunds are issued.

 

TIGTA requested an account indicator to identify taxpayers who claim erroneous refundable credits.  Taxpayers with that indicator should be required to provide documentation before their claims for refundable credits are processed and should be considered for pre-refund examinations of claims for all refundable credits.  (That’s basically what Roberg Tax Solutions asked for in our petition!)

 

The IRS management has agreed with TIGTA’s recommendations and they will take corrective actions.  They will develop a pre-refund examination filter so that historical information is available and used as selection criteria.  Now that’s not exactly what TIGTA recommended—but it’s a good start.

 

Is this a perfect win?  No—but for victims of child identity theft, it’s definitely a step in the right direction.  To read more about the TIGTA report, click here:  http://www.treasury.gov/tigta/auditreports/2012reports/201240105_oa_highlights.pdf

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For some more information on this subject, be sure to check out:

Will I Go To Jail For EIC Fraud?
http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2011/04/will-i-go-to-jail-for-eic-fraud/

My Ex Claimed my Kid: Now What Do I Do?
http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2011/01/my-ex-claimed-my-kid-now-what-do-i-do/

Stolen Children
http://robergtaxsolutions.com/2012/05/stolen-children/