Claiming a dependent is usually pretty simple: you give the IRS their social security number, and claim that your relationship with your dependent satisfies a few simple rules. But things can get more complicated: someone else can also claim the same person as a dependent, and if they get their filing in first, the IRS will assume it’s legitimate. What can you do then?
The process is fairly straightforward. An efiled return claiming a dependent who has already been claimed will be rejected, but a paper return will move things to the next step: the IRS will request that both filers demonstrate how they satisfy the criteria for claiming a dependent.
Criteria for Claimin a Dependent
Straight from the IRS website, here are the rules for claiming a dependent:
1. **Relationship** — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or stepsibling, or a descendant of one of these.
2. **Residence** — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.
3. **Age** — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.
4. **Support** — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.
If you can demostrate that the dependent fits these criteria for you (and thus no one else), write up the reasons and mail them in with your tax return.
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.
Why Dependents Require a Social Security Number
For a while, this wasn’t the problem: the IRS used to more or less take the taxpayer’s 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.
Contesting a Claim, in Short
Prepare your filing the way you normally would, but instead of e-filing, print it out. Write up a cover letter, covering how your dependent claim satisfies the criteria of relationship, residence, age, and support, and then mail the letter and the filing to the IRS. In most cases, that will settle things. If not, the IRS will audit you and the other person, at which point it makes sense to begin working with a tax attorney who can guide you through the rest of the process.
Tags: dependents
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 7:25 pm and is filed under Tax Tips and Hints.- Unlimited live support.
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i want to know if i can claim 3 children that i am sharing a house with there mom on my taxes
Hi Sandra,
Based on your comment, it doesn’t sound like you are related to the children in question. In order to be your dependent, a child must be your child or stepchild (by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or stepsibling, or a descendant of one of these. Furthermore, a child can’t be claimed as a dependent by more than one taxpayer, so if their mother is claiming them, that means you can’t.
Hi Tierra,
The best thing to do is paper file your return claiming your dependent. If you try to e-file, it will be rejected because the dependent has already been claimed, but you can still paper file. Include with your return a cover letter explaining your situation and evidence proving how you and the dependent pass the four tests described in this post (relationship, residence, age, and support). If this still doesn’t resolve the issue, the IRS will audit both your return and your aunt’s. This should give you an opportunity to prove definitively that the dependent is yours.
Hi Angela,
The best thing to do is paper file your return. Even though your son passed away, you can still claim his as a dependent for the year. When you paper file, claim him as a dependent and include a cover letter explaining your situation and evidence that proves you and your son pass the four tests (relationship, residence, age, and support) described in the body of this post. If this still doesn’t resolve the problem, the IRS will audit both of the returns in question and this should resolve things in your favor.
My child filed his taxes and got money back. However, he has lived at home for over the entire past year as well as he has been supported by myself and my wife for a majority of the year. Is there a way for us claiming him to override himself? Thank you.
my daughters fathers friend that is a femaile lives with him and she had claimed my daughters for the past 5 years and i was unable to because she beat me to it illegally because he could not we have our children half and half and she claimed the entire year and i wanted to know if i can claim my children now for those years and if she will ust have to pay the irs back or how that works exaccrly? what do i need to provide? and who do i conatct and how long is the process take to get my refund for the past 5 years ?
I just tried ti file my taxes and it was rejected twice saying my 2 kids social security number was already used. I don’t know what to do next.I kept trying to resend it and it keeps rejecting me to file. My kids lived with me all their lives and I claim them every year.Now this will hold me up for getting my refund within the normal two weeks I usually get it.
Do you around how long it takes after mailing your taxes and proof that the kids stay with you? I really needed my money fast.
can my son claim me as a dependent when he files his taxesif I get medca and foodstamps but have no income at all since 2010
Hi Shely,
There are two types of dependents: 1) qualifying child, and 2) qualifying relative. Since you are his mother, you cannot be his qualifying child, but you can be his qualifying relative IF a) your gross income for the year is less than $3,700 and b) your son must have provided more than half of your total support for the year. Refer to this section of IRS Publication 501 for further details.
Hi Lakeyasha,
You did the right thing mailing in a paper return and providing evidence that the dependents are yours. Unfortunately, the best case scenario for the IRS reviewing a paper return is six to eight weeks. If they have to review evidence, it can take as long as six months. And all of this is assuming that your return doesn’t get audited. In that case it could potentially take even longer.
Hi Stacy,
The best thing to do is call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. Your situation is so unique, I’m not sure exactly how to handle it. I will tell you that even if you can retroactively claim dependents for the last five years, you will only be able to get a refund back for the last three years.
Hi Josh,
It is possible to still claim him, provided he is either under age nineteen, or under twenty-four and a full-time student. If so, all you have to do is paper file your return with a cover letter explaining your situation and offering evidence that he is your son, that he lived with you for half the year, and that you provided more than half his support. If there’s still a question in the IRS’s mind, they’ll audit both of your returns.