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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.
Two issues here;
(1) A life long friend of the family, age 59, dying with cancer, separated from an evil spouse with no place to go and now on food stamps, lived with us for most of 2011. Her husband is devious and money hungry like you would not believe. We have cared for her for more than 9 months out of the year but I am certain the husband will claim her on his taxes. What should we do and shouldn’t we be claiming her on our taxes?
(2) Living with us for all of 2011 is also my 20 year old son, his girlfriend and their child which is our grandson. I just learned the mother’s brother, even though the child lived here sense it’s birth in August 2011 and the mother lived here for all of 2011, has claimed them on his taxes. I was shocked, they have only been there for two weekend visits and that was only recent in 2012.
Thank you so much in advance for any feed back as I may not get the chance to reply.
hi
i have i my daughter and her father and i have joint custody so each year either parent has to report her. this year it was his year but am not sure if he reported heror someone else how can i figure out he claim her this year ?
I just tried to claim my fiance child that has lived with us for 2 years. She moved with her aunt in november of 2011. When i sent my return it said she has been claimed already, what should i do we have school records and everything.
My fiance daughter lived with us for two years. She moved with her aunt in November 2011. I cliamed her last year, but when i did my returns this year it rejected them because someone else claimed her. We took care of her the entire year though. What should i do?
I just found out someone claim my daugther. I never recieve her first ss card in the mail I had to reapply for it I just moced to this place before I give birth what im I suppose to do.
Hi Sandy,
You should paper file your tax return and claim your daughter as a dependent, only be sure to include a cover letter explaining your situation to the IRS as well as evidence that she is your dependent. You don’t need a Social Security card – here’s a document with all the acceptable evidence. If this doesn’t resolve the problem, the IRS will audit both your return and that of the person who claimed you, giving you an opportunity to prove your case for good.
Hi Des,
First off, it doesn’t sound like you yourself are eligible to claim her. In order to claim a child as a dependent, the child must be your son, daughter, adopted child, stepchild, brother, sister, stepsibling, foster child, or a descendant of one of these. Now, if your fiance wants to claim her, he should submit a paper return claiming her as a dependent along with a cover letter explaining his situation and evidence that she was in fact his dependent. The IRS will either award him the dependent or audit the two returns claiming him, giving him an opportunity to further prove his case.
Esmeralda,
The best thing to do in this situation is give the IRS a call at 1-800-829-1040. They should be able to tell you if she has already been claimed.
Hi Flip,
To address your first issue, from what you’ve told me, it sounds like you should be able to claim her provided she lived with you all year as a member of your household, her gross income is less than $3,700, and you provided more than half of her support. Her husband will not be able to claim her, as they are married. As for your second question, you should be able to claim them both. Your son’s girlfriend has to meet the same requirements as your family friend, but your grandchild sounds pretty definitely your dependent. If someone else claims them, file a paper return claiming them both and include a cover letter explaining your situation as well as evidence that they meet all the requirements of your dependents. Here’s an IRS publication that could be helpful in sorting through the details.
hi someone used my daughters ss number without me knowing i never gave her ss to any one but i was gnna do my taxes with this income tax place and i didnt like how much they were charging so she said ok and gave me my daughters ss card back but when i had went to do my taxes at my regular place i go to my taxes were rejected saying someone else claimed my daughter besides me what can i do i sent the irs the taxes thru the mail will i still be able to get my taxes if so how long will it take
Hi Vanessa,
You did the right thing paper filing your return in the mail. Did you send a cover letter explaining your situation and evidence proving your daughter is your dependent? The IRS will need this information in order to let you claim her. If the evidence that she’s your dependent is inconclusive, the IRS will audit both returns, giving you a chance to prove that she’s your dependent once and for all. A normal paper return can take up to six weeks to process, but processing evidence, and an audit, could take even longer. It’s impossible to say, but it could be anywhere from six weeks to six months.
I was taking care of my girlfriends child since she was born sept 7, 2011. My girlfriend gave me her daughters social so i can claim her daughter since she was not working.I filled taxes yesterday. Now the father of my girlfriends daughter wants to file taxes and claim my gf’s daughter. What will happen, and who will win? this is with my girlfriends consent of her daughter.
Hi James,
If two taxpayers claim the same dependent, the IRS will most likely audit both returns. You’ll then be asked to offer evidence that the child in question is in fact your dependent. The IRS will then award the dependent to whoever has the more legitimate claim.
Thanks for the response tax adviser much appreciated.
I want to ask I had 2 kids born at USA but cause the INS canceled my working permit i back to my country that mean I can’t claim them, so my aunt finally claim them, I am afraid of it ,later if my child can not sponsor me so I could go back to live in usa, you think that’s legal they claim my child but my child does not live in the usa?
Hi Rick,
Yes it is wrong. In order for your aunt to claim the children as dependents, they must have lived with her for at least half the year. If she lives in the U.S. and the children do not this would be impossible. The best thing to do in this situation is to contact the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
I have custody of my grandchild but do not file return, we receive ssi disability, and I think that my daughter is claiming him on her return. How can I find out and what can be done. She does not support child in any way and he doesn’t live with her at all.
hello, my question is: over a year ago I lost my son documentation he is two years, I think people where we leaved at used to claim him as dependent. what I can do to report it and where?
Hi Shelai,
The best thing to do in this situation is to call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. Explain your situation and they should be able to tell you if your granddaughter is being claimed as a dependent. You might consider paper filing a return and claiming your granddaughter as your dependent (include a cover letter and some evidence). At the very least this would prompt the IRS to audit both returns, which would probably deny your daughter the ability to claim the child.
Hi Jackie,
The best thing to do is call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040. Explain your situation to them and they should be able to tell you if he has been claimed and what to do about it.
I think I’m clear based on reading the article but I want to be sure. I live in VA and my son’s mother lives in SC. We agreed to claim him alternately. This is my first year claiming him but my e-file was rejected saying SSN has already been claimed. His mom said she didnt claim him. If I submit a letter stating the previous will that suffice? Will him living in SC affect my claim? I provide most of the financial support.
Thanks
-LJ
Hi LJ,
You can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040 and ask them who claimed your son. Even when your e-file is rejected, you can still paper file your return and claim your son as a dependent. Be sure to include a cover letter explaining the situation and evidence that proves he’s your dependent. At worst, the IRS will audit both returns and you will have an opportunity to prove your case. There does seem to be a little problem, though, based on your comment. In order to claim a child as your dependent he must live with you for at least half the year. There are exceptions, such as illness or education, but it doesn’t sound like they apply in this situation. Check this IRS publication to make sure your son really does qualify as your dependent.
Hi, this is my first year filing a tax return and I might end up In a situation similar to some here. My sister and nephew lived with me last year and I provided half of his support. My sister asked me to claim my nephew on my taxes and give her the refund to help her out since she didn’t have a job last year. I agreed and my return was accepted by the IRS but last night she told me that my nephew’s grandmother called saying she tried to claim him as well but was rejected by the IRS because I already did. My sister said she let her claim him in the past but this year she told her not to file. My question is since the grandmother tried to file electronically but failed will I be audited? My sister says she straitened things out with the grandma and she is not going to file by mail in an attempt to claim him but I am wondering if te simple fact that she tried electronically will effect the return, will I be audited? Will it be delayed? As I said this is my first year and I don’t really know what to expect lol. Please any help would be appreitiated.
Hi Rey,
You shouldn’t be audited just because someone tried and filed to e-file with a dependent you already claimed. If she doesn’t paper file and contest your claiming of the dependent, the IRS is most likely going to assume you’re in the right. And if you do get audited, don’t panic. As long as the dependent is rightfully yours there’s nothing to worry about.
Hi, I just have one quick question. I know I’m probably over thinking this. But, my husband is 20 he turned 20 in December of last year. The tax person him and his mom used said that she could claim him because we got married in August of 2011. He didn’t go to College this past year like he did in 2010. So my question is, did the tax person tell his mom the right thing? Because he is having to pay his mom for the money she is losing by not claiming him because he claimed me and our 8 month old son. Thanks in advanced.
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?
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 Hannah,
There are two types of dependents: qualifying children and qualifying relatives. Your husband cannot be a qualifying child because he is not under 19 or under 24 and a full-time student. Your husband may, however, be her qualifying relative but only if his gross income was under $3,700 and his mother provided over half of his support. If this is not the case, he can’t be her dependent. Also, FYI your marriage status is determined by the last day of the year. So if you were married on December 31, 2011, the IRS will consider you married for all of 2011. He is under no legal obligation to pay his mother for the money she is “losing.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
Hi! I was needing some advise. I claimed seven children on my taxes. Three are my natural born children, three are children who I am in the process of adopting and lived with me the entire year, and one is a foster child that lived with me for 8 months last year. I e-filed but it was rejected because someone claimed one or more of my children. I can’t find out which child, or if it was more than one of them, or anything. I am planning to send the form by mail along with the proof showing that I have the right to claim each of them. My questions are…how long might it take to get this resolved, and now that I know how to handle the federal taxes, how do I approach this with my state taxes? I moved so I have to file with both Alabama and Louisiana.