Income Tax Filing Complication

[Bob B.]

I already posted this in my SA blog, and have gotten some great advice. I thought I'd open the situation to the greater SA community to see if there is more helpful information.

DW e-filed our taxes late yesterday morning. Then she checked the status of our e-file at around 9:00 last evening. She found out that our filing had been rejected. The reason for the rejection was that someone else had used DS1's name and SSN as a dependent. DS1 is our son whom we adopted last month.

Before DS1 came to us as a foster child last April, at least five different adult people probably had access to his SSN.

We provided care for him for 8 1/2 months in 2011. We meet all qualifications to claim him as a dependent.

I understand that it will take quite some time to get this resolved, and that we will need to submit as much information as possible to demonstrate that we, and not the person who already claimed him are eligible to receive the deduction/child tax credit.

Is there a way to submit a return that will allow us to recive our refund that we would be eligible for without claiming him, and then wait for the rest of it?

[disneysteve]

Is there a way to submit a return that will allow us to recive our refund that we would be eligible for without claiming him, and then wait for the rest of it?

I am not an accountant but I would think you could file your return as if he was not a dependent. Then later you could file an amended return adding him as a dependent. I'd certainly check with your tax professional though before doing that.

[herdjohnson]

I agree, consult an accountant. You may also want to consult with a lawyer. You don't want the other party to claim that you filing without dependents was an admission that they were not your dependent - if it goes that far.

[Bob B.]

I found a number for an IRS advocate, and made a call.

The representative said I would be fine in submitting a return without the child in question included, then submit an amended form later.

Good thing we filed early.

Bad thing the other person filed earlier.

[snshijuptr]

You might want to go back to the adoption agency since someone might be abusing your child's SSN. Also I would run a credit report for your son. Hopefully this is just a misunderstanding, and a previous caretaker is reporting the child without understanding the IRS rules.

[jpg7n16]

Hmmm. Sounds like this other person is an audit waiting to happen.

From: Qualifying Child Rules

Residency
Child must live with you (or your spouse if you file a joint return) in the United States for more than half of the year.

From: Qualifying Child of More Than One Person

Tie-Breaker Rules
Under the tie-breaker rule, the child is treated as a qualfiying child only by:

• The parents if they file a joint return;
• The parent, if only one of the persons is the child's parent;
• The parent with whom the child lived the longest during the tax year, if two of the persons are the child's parent and they do not file a joint return together.
• The parent with the highest AGI if the child lived with each parent for the same amount of time during the tax year, and they do not file a joint return together;
• The person with the highest AGI if no parent can claim the child as a qualfiying child; or
• A person with the higher AGI than any parent who can also claim the child as a qualifying child but does not.