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.
Hello
I put my child on taxes BUT DID NOT claim as an dependent. The father taxes are now being rejected because child is already “claimed” however I did not claim the child. What can we do?
Hi Coreen,
I suggest reviewing your tax return to ensure that the child was not claimed as a dependent on your behalf. Once you are positive that you did not claim the child, you can contact your tax preparer to take a look further into your specific tax situation.
If you find that you did mistakenly claim the child as a dependent, you can simply amend your tax return and re-file a tax return with the corrections made.
My husband filed his tax return to find out someone had already claimed them as dependents, we have submitted evidence of his right to claim them. How long will it take for the IRS to resolve this issue.
Hi Angie,
I’m sorry that happened to you. At least you’re on the right track to getting this resolved. Unfortunately, the time-frame is never specified with this type of situation. Since there are two parties involved, it is hard to predict. The IRS will also request proof from the other party. If this goes unanswered, the IRS could make several requests for contact. This will eventually work out in your favor if this is the case.
i need to see if a tax return has been filed, going through divorce and he states that he will claim all 3 kids.
Hi Tammy,
Unfortunately, the IRS will not be able to tell you who your ex-spouse claimed on his taxes. However, I do suggest paper-filing your tax return this year along with proof for why you should be the parent to claim the children as dependents.
Hello!
My son is 25, but still lives at home and I provide way more than half his living expenses. He filed his return (he only made a little over $1,000). He accidentally marked that no one else can claim him unknowingly.
I’m doing my taxes now and will be claiming him. Will mine be rejected? What do we need to do?
Hi Vanessa,
Unfortunately, the IRS has an age limit to claiming qualifying child dependents on your tax return. In order to claim your son as a qualifying child dependent, he must be no older than 19 years old. If he is a full time student, the IRS allows you to claim a child dependent until they are 24 years of age. Although you seem to meet all other IRS guidelines to claim him, claiming your son as a dependent will not be allowed by the IRS because of his age.
Question – my birth daughter came to live with us during her senior year. Note I gave her up for adoption. She lived with us for over 6 months. My husband, who is not her natural father, and I who is her birth mother are filing to claim [her as a dependent]. Well now she moved out and she filed for herself and she went though job after job and made no where near the amount which is required to file. I want to make sure we do not get in trouble with the IRS since she insisted on filing herself.
Hi Jeana,
The first thing you want to do is ask your daughter if she checked box 6a on her federal tax return. If she filed online, then ask her if she reported that ‘someone else can claim her as a dependent on their tax return’. If she did not check this box or answered ‘yes’ that someone else can claim her on their tax return, you have nothing to worry about. You can claim her as a dependent and she can file a tax return as long as she did not check that box. This box indicates that you are claiming a personal exemption. A personal exemption can only be claimed once per person. When you claim a dependent on your tax return, it means that you are claiming a personal exemption for them (usually because they cannot).
On the other hand, if your daughter DID check box 6a or answer ‘no’ to being able to be claimed on someone else’s tax return, then whoever filed their tax return last (between you and your daughter) will have their tax return rejected by the IRS. In this case, you and your daughter should decide who will be claiming the personal exemption for her. If she lets you claim the personal exemption for her, then she will need to amend her tax return and re-file it without that box checked. If she will be claiming the personal exemption for herself, then you and your husband will need to amend and refile your tax return without claiming your daughter as a dependent.
Worst case scenario is that your return will be rejected for claiming your daughter who had already filed and claimed a personal exemption for herself.