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.
HI T.A,
MY UNCLE IN TEXAS ASKED TO CARRY MY SON IM IN CALIFORNIA AND THINKS THATS A BAD IDEA GIVING WERE IN DIFFERENT STATES AND THAT WOULD B TAX FRAUD. I TOLD HIM NO BUT HE ALREADY HAS MY SONS INFORMATION. MY SONS FATHER IS GOING TO CARRY HIM INSTEAD ON THE 31ST. IF MY PAPERWORK IS KICKED OUT THE SYSTEM BECAUSE SOMEONE HAS CLAIMED HIM BEFORE MY SONS DAD DOES DO I CONTACT THE IRS TO FILE A COMPLAINT BEFORE THEY RECEIVE THE MONEY AND ALSO TELL THE IRS I KNOW WHO COULD OF CARRIED HIM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION? WHAT FORM WOULD I NEED TO FILE A COMPLAINT AND WHERE WOULD I FIND IT JUST ON CASE I HAVE TO USE IT ASAP?
Hi Karahaja,
First you should try e-filing your return. Maybe your uncle hasn’t claimed them yet and you will still be able to e-file.
If he has claimed them your e-filed return will be rejected. Then you will need to paper file your return (claiming your son) and include a cover letter explaining your situation as well as evidence proving that your son is rightfully your dependent and not that of his uncle.
My ex wife and I have joint physical and legal custody, when i was in active duty i let her claim our daug shehter, but after that she keeps claimine her and filed every year as fast as she can. So everytime i file i get in trouble. But i just found out she didnt have income for about 3 years and she was not married but living with her boyfriend. She couldnt file head of theds household.possibly a dependent on her boyfriend. Do i have the right to correct the past tax claim and is it ture whoever claims the child first gets the refund.Thank you for your help
Hi Tan,
I really don’t have enough information to say if she had a right to claim them for those years. Check out this post on our sister site PriorTax. It outlines the requires a child needs to meet in order for you to claim them as a dependent: http://www.priortax.com/filing-late-taxes/who-qualifies-as-a-dependent-on-your-taxes/.
If it turns out that your wife did not have the right to claim them, you can file an amended return for those years, claiming them as your dependent, but only if you meet the requirements. If both you and your ex qualify, the IRS will award them to whoever they lived with for the longest amount of time during the year. If this is equal too they go to the taxpayer with the highest AGI.
No it’s not true that the taxpayer that claims them first gets the refund. The refund will be issued to the first taxpayer who claims them, and any subsequent e-filed return that claims that SSN will be rejected. But you can always file a paper return claiming them which will prompt an IRS audit that hopefully rewards them to you.
Me and my wife just separated and we have two children to together. She only worked 2 months in 2012. I’m active duty military and the kids and her lived with me last year. So I went to do my taxs and IRS said that there ss# has already been claimed as a dependent for someone else. Unfortunately she know my ss# also but she couldn’t get my w2. Is there anything I can do from letting this happening again or if I can do anything now from stooping her from claiming the children this year?
Hi Michael,
First take a look at this blog post on our sister site PriorTax. It outlines the requirements dependents need to meet in order for you to claim them: http://www.priortax.com/filing-late-taxes/who-qualifies-as-a-dependent-on-your-taxes/.
If your wife CANNOT claim them as dependents, you should file a paper return that claims them as dependents and include a cover letter explaining your situation and offering evidence that the children qualify as your dependents.
If your wife CAN claim them but the children also meet the requirements for you to claim them, you could try filing a paper return (as above) and challenging your wife’s return. If dependents can rightfully be claimed by two people, the IRS usually awards them to the taxpayer they lived with for the longest time during the tax year and then to the taxpayer with the largest AGI.
As for future years, the best thing you can do is file as early as possible that way her return will get rejected if she tries to claim them.
I have lived with my boyfriend for 3 years now. He had played in a band and made some small income (~7000). I claimed him as a dependent. He will still have to pay taxes on his income. Is that okay? Or am I getitng into some deep water here. He can still file on his own correct? I have made all the other income for the house and for the year.
Hi Brittany,
I’m not sure that you can claim your boyfriend as a dependent. There are actually two types of dependent: qualifying child and qualifying relative. You can’t claim your boyfriend as a qualifying child because he is not your child. So your only option would be to claim him as a qualifying relative. However, you cannot claim someone as a qualifying relative if they make more than $3,800. You can find all of the other requirements in this article on our sister site: http://www.priortax.com/filing-late-taxes/who-qualifies-as-a-dependent-on-your-taxes/
It sounds to me like your boyfriend should file his own return and claim his own personal exemption. And if you claimed his a dependent for several years when he really didn’t qualify as your dependent you may need to file an amended return for those years.
My fiancé has been fighting an identity theft case for about 5 years now. Every time he files his returns they are kept by the IRS. We have sent in all of the documentation that they have aske for 3 times & they claim to never have gotten it. We have faxed & sent in certified mail! They even sent us a letter about 6 months ago saying that he should be receiving a check in 4-6 weeks & that never showed up. So I guess my question boils down to, what can we do to ensure he will get his return this year? Thank you
Hi Lisa,
The best thing he can do is file as early as possible. That will give the fraudsters less time to claim his SSN and cause his return to be rejected.