Did the IRS reject your tax return because someone else claimed your dependent?
Claiming a dependent is usually pretty simple: you give the IRS their social security number, certifying that your relationship with that person satisfies a few simple rules.
Things can get more complicated, especially if someone else also claims the same person as a dependent. If they file their return first, the IRS will assume it’s legitimate and award them the full tax benefit of the dependent. When you attempt to e-file your return, it will be rejected.
The process is fairly straightforward. After your e-filed return has been rejected because someone else claimed the same dependent, you need to file a paper return. You can still prepare your return online. Instead of e-filing, you will need to print it out, sign it, and mail it to the IRS.
With your return, include a cover letter explaining your situation to the IRS as well as evidence proving that you have the right to claim the dependent (ie: medical records, school records, etc.).
The IRS will then review both returns claiming that dependent and determine which person should be claiming the dependent based on tax law.
The first thing to do is to make sure that you actually can claim the person in question as a dependent. There are two types of dependents, qualifying children and qualifying relatives, and both have different requirements.
Criteria for claiming a qualifying child
In order to claim someone as a qualifying child, he or she must
- Be your biological or adopted child, stepchild, foster child, sibling, half sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of one of these
- Be under age 19, under age 24 if a full-time student, or any age if permanently and totally disabled
- Remain a U.S. citizen or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico
- Not be married, or be married but not filing a joint return
- Have lived with you for at least half the year.
- Not have provided more than half of his or her own support
Criteria for claiming a qualifying relative
In order to claim someone as a qualifying relative, he or she must
- Have lived with you all year as a member of your household, or be one of the following family members: child, parent, sibling, stepparent, stepchild, step-sibling, half sibling, grandparent, grandchild, child-in-law, parent-in-law, sibling-in-law, uncle, aunt, niece, or nephew.
- Remain a U.S. citizen or resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico
- Not be married, or be married but not filing a joint return
- Not be a qualifying child of you or someone else
- Have a gross income of less than $4,000
- Have more than half of their total support for the year provided by you
When you sent your cover letter and evidence along with your return, you should strive to prove that you satisfy all of the requirements for the type of dependent that you are trying to claim.
Can I find out who claimed my dependent?
The IRS can’t tell you who else has claimed the dependent for several reasons. One is that since they don’t know who made the right claim, they don’t want to violate the privacy of someone who really is claiming their own child. Another is that there’s always the potential for mistakes, and it doesn’t make much sense to punish someone for accidentally writing a “4” that looks like a “9” when copying a Social Security number.
What if two people both meet the requirements to claim a dependent?
If two different people both have the right to claim the dependent according to the criteria listed above, the IRS will generally award the dependent to the person with whom the dependent lived for the greatest amount of time during the tax year. If the dependent lived with both people for an equal amount of time, then the IRS will award the dependent to the taxpayer with the higher AGI.
Why dependents require a Social Security number
For a while, dependents didn’t require a Social Security number at all. The IRS used to take taxpayers’ word for it when they claimed dependents. But in 1987, the rule changed to require taxpayers to give a Social Security number for every dependent they claimed. And suddenly, seven million dependents disappeared. Many of them were probably due to misunderstandings: two divorced parents each claiming all of their kids, for example. But others could have been due to shady behavior, including claiming children while knowing someone else would claim them, or even fabricating dependents entirely.
Prevent this in the future
The problem can be solved by mailing in a paper return. But how do you prevent this from happening in future years? The IRS is working to improve its safeguards against tax fraud and identity theft, but these aren’t perfect. The best thing you can do to prevent someone else from claiming your dependent is to file your taxes as early as possible. That way your e-filed return will be accepted and theirs will be rejected. You’ll get your refund on time and they will be required to prove they meet the dependent criteria.
Some food for thought
In situations like the ones discussed above, there tends to be emotion involved from both parties. The IRS is required to base all final decisions solely on tax law. When dealing with the IRS, it is most productive to stick to the facts. This will save you time and stress.
i have a similar situation of some on here and i was wondering if you could help..i recently had my son in september,when i went to file my taxes this year it was rejected.i was told that my dependent was already claimed.his father pays me money but doesnt live with us and doesnt know his social security number. i want to know if theres any way i can find out who has tried to claim him.he resides in my care, under my roof and i just dont understand it..please please help me out..
Hi Brittany,
From what you say it sounds like your son is indeed your dependent. The best thing to do in this situation is to give the IRS a call at 1-800-829-1040 and explain your situation to them. And don’t worry, even though someone else has claimed him, you can still claim him. You’ll just have to paper file and include with your return a cover letter explaining your situation and evidence that proves your son is your dependent. The IRS will either award him to you, or audit both returns that claim him, giving you a final chance to prove your case. Good luck!
Hello,
I have a question my husbands ex wife doesn’t allow him to claim his two children even though she doesn’t work she lets her sister who lives in a different address claim them to help her sister not have to pay and for her to receive money..
what should he do?
Hi Gina,
Well, what you should do depends on whose dependents the kids actually are. If they are your husband’s dependents – which would involve them living with him – then he should file his return claiming them as dependents. Paper file so that it’s not rejected and include a cover letter explaining the situation and evidence that proves they are indeed his dependents.
Hi my niece and her two children had been residing with me for almost two years. I provided for the three of them. She worked a couple if jobs but not for long did not make over $2500 and still did not contribute to the household or her children. I finally had an enough and told her that she had to leave, which she did (in September 2011) and she returned a month later (October 2011) to pick up her kids. The kids still continued to come over for weekends and holidays after they left. I talked to her the other day and she told me that someone claimed the kids on their taxes. She said that the person how claimed them is her friend’s sister, who lives in another city and she has never met. I know that that person does not really have any legal rights to claim them and I was really thinking about filing via paper to claim them. Of course I never claimed her but should have and she told me that I could claim her (I mean REALLY). What do they do to the person that claimed a person, received money for claiming that person but really did not have any legal rights?
Hi Geri,
This woman will be made to pay the tax that she rightfully owes the IRS along with penalties and interest, but this is only likely to happen if the IRS catches something wrong with her return and audits it. You might give them a call at 1-800-829-1040 to see what they recommend doing.
I’m 22 years old. My father claimed me on his tax return even though I didn’t live with him. And I graduated from college last year so I was only in school full time for 3 months out of the year. I paid for my schooling and my other bills and I worked full time and even provided the majority of the household for my disabled mother. My father told me he would amend his taxes so that might make it easier, so I included a note in my tax return stating that he made a mistake and will amend them. Now, it turns out he refuses to do it. How will the IRS sort all of this out?
Hi Nicole,
From what you’ve told me, it sounds like you are definitely not his dependent, so the good news is that it shouldn’t be hard to prove that to the IRS. You did the right thing including a note with your return explaining the situation. The IRS should audit both of your returns and ask you both for evidence. The bad news is that audits can often take a long time. You might call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 to see if there’s anything you can do to expedite the process.
My concern now is that my ex claimed our daughter and we were supposed to split half of the return since we separated in September 2011, but now he is telling me I am not going to get anything!!! He is bitter about our split and says I don’t deserve a thing!!! I find it very unfair because we both take care of our daughter. I pay for all of her medical insurance since she was born. She is now 3.5 years-old.
I am struggling because I only work part time, and my daughter need new clothes, but I am not the type to ask for money from my ex.
My question now is that we both e-filed already. I know this might seem harsh, but I have to do something about it its just not fair…I am considering of amending my taxes, and re-filing and claim my daughter as well. I will submit it via mail…is this a bad idea?
Will my previous filing affect anything or make the IRS take his side since I do already know he claimed her?
Hi Kira,
Amending your return to claim your daughter only makes sense if you can definitively prove that she is your dependent. Can you prove that she lived with you for over half of the year? Generally, if two parents claim the same dependent, the IRS will award the child to the one with whom the child lived for the longest time over the course of the year.