My parents wrongly claimed me as dependent? Tax year 2013

[david-c-glenn]

My parents claimed me as a dependent for their taxes in the year 2013. I am a 21 years old and not in school. I lived with them January 2013 but have since lived on my own in another state and they have provided me with no financial support except for paying for my health insurance through my father's employer's program. I do not believe I qualify as a dependent and therefor e-filed my taxes which were rejected because my parent's filed theirs fist. What are my options now? I believe my father has knowingly claimed me as a dependent wrongly but do not want cause any criminal action or auditing to come about. What are my options?

[BarbL · Accepted solution]

Hello-

The IRS has two categories of dependents:  Qualifying Child and Qualifying Relative.  If you are 21 y/o and not a full-time student, they cannot claim you as a qualifying child.  This leaves only the qualifying relative option. 

The requirements to claim you as a qualifying relative are:

- You must be unmarried (or if married, not file a joint return).

- You must be a U.S. citizen.

- You are not the qualifying child of anyone else.

- You must either live with them as a member of the household all year -or- be related to the taxpayer.

- You must have gross income less than $3,900.

- They must provide more than half your support during the year.

If you made more than $3,900 last year, they are automatically disqualified from claiming you as a dependent.  That's the simplest thing to prove, and the IRS will be able to verify it quite easily.  You will not be in trouble for filing and claiming yourself, as you are legally allowed to do so.  They will not be in any legal trouble either, but will be required to re-pay any portion of their refund they received by claiming you.  

I wouldn't go so far as to say the software allowed them to do it, they could have entered incorrect information or filed using another method.  The bottom line is that they filed before you.

My recommendation is to claim yourself, then print and mail your tax return.  If you made more than $3,900, the IRS will allow you to claim yourself.  Your refund may be delayed a bit, but that's all.  They will then contact your parents and let them know they need to repay a portion of their refund.  It will really be quite simple, but will take a bit longer than if you had been able to e-file.

I hope this is helpful.  Please let us know if you have further questions.

[bogarver]

I have gone through something similar and heard that I will only get my tax return when (if) my parents pay theirs back to the IRS. Knowing my parents it is all spent by now so I am afraid that I will never receive my tax return. Is that true or simply a rumor?

[xmasbaby0]

You picked a four year old thread to post your question to.  If you should not have been claimed as a dependent then you can file your return by printing, signing and mailing it, since you cannot e-file once someone has claimed you and used your SSN. If your parents claimed you when they should not have, then they need to amend their own tax return.  Eventually both of you will hear from the IRS to sort out if you could be claimed as a dependent.

[IvanC]

Hello david.c.glenn,

       My name is Ivan, and I would be happy to assist you today. These are your options:

- Asking your parents to amend there return and delete you as a dependent. If they agree to do so, you can e-file your taxes claiming yourself, once there amended return is accepted.

- You can file a paper return claiming yourself, and the IRS will conduct an investigation to see who should rightfully claim the dependency.

- Or, you can file your return stating "someone else can claim me". The IRS will take that as consent to your parents claiming you.

I hope this helps, and thank you for contacting TurboTax!

- Ivan

[david-c-glenn]

Can my parent's legally claim me as a dependent? If not, will I be under any legal penalty for knowingly allowing him to wrongly claim me as a dependent?

[IvanC]

The software would have let your parents know if you qualified or not. You may no longer qualify for a child tax credit, but the qualifications on a dependent are slightly different. So, in conclusion, if the software allowed them to claim you as a dependent, it would seem appropriate to assume you met the qualifications. If you don't meet the qualifications, it is possible your parents falsified information pertaining to that credit. This would only cause possible penalties for them, not for you. Again, that is, if they falsified information. Below is a link on dependent qualifications.
<a href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894472-who-is-a-dependent" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894472-who-is-a-dependent</a>

[Boahemaayaa]

How can I remove my parents from my claim.since they file without my notice 

[Critter]

You do not "remove" anything parent related ... if you no longer qualify as their dependent you simply file your own return and indicate NO ONE will claim you even if they did.   Then tell your folks why you are not their dependent and tell them you will be claiming yourself.  If they have already filed and you were rejected then your only choice is to mail in your return to assert your right to claim yourself. 

BUT ... are you sure you are not a dependent ?

Here are the complete rules for Claiming an Exemption for a Dependent:

Tests  ALL dependents must pass ......

- You cannot claim any dependents if you, or your spouse if filing jointly, could be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer.

- You cannot claim a married person who files a joint return as a dependent unless that joint return is only a claim for refund and there would be no tax liability for either spouse on separate returns.

- You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.

- You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative.

Requirements to be a Qualifying Child:

1. 
   The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. 
   The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), (b) under age 24 at the end of the year, a full-time student and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly), (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
3. 
   The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (except for temporary absences such as for school)
4. 
   The child must not have provided more than half of his or her support for the year.
5. 
   The child is not filing a joint return for the year (unless that
   return is filed only as a claim for refund).
6. 
   If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more
   than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim
   the child as a qualifying child.

Requirements to be a Qualifying Relative:

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer.

1. 
   The person either (a) be related to your in one of the following ways:
   Your child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them
   Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
   Your father, mother, grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent.
   Your stepfather or stepmother.
   A son or daughter of your brother or sister.
   A brother or sister of your father or mother.
   Your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.
   or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household (and your relationship must not violate local law … which means no in Mississippi & Michigan).
2. 
   The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,000 for 2015 ($4,050 for 2016) (social security benefits do not count).
3. 
   You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
   
   There is a very good worksheet to help you determine how much support you provide. It is on page 16 of IRS Pub. 501
   http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

[macuser_22]

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@Boahemaayaa wrote:

How can I remove my parents from my claim.since they file without my notice 

---

@Boahemaayaa - You cannot.   If they were legally entitled to claim you then they can - not notice to you is required.    By tax law, you are not entitled to claim yourself of another taxpayer *can* claim yiu whether they actually claim you or not.

If they were not entitled to claim you then they need to amend and remove you.  If they do nor amend then  just file your own proper return.  The IRS will send letters to both taxpayers asking for proof that they can claim you to them and proof from you that they cannot claim you.  The IRS will decide.

[bunnywu04]

You said the tax return may be delayed a little bit to get it? How king will it take to get it since it’s mailed in ? Weeks days

[Critter]

Mailed in returns usually process in about 6 weeks ... but with the current situation expect it to take much longer. 

[Daissy_dr]

I have a follow up question. So the exact same thing happened to me. My parents claimed me as a dependent while I filed as a independent. Both of our taxes got rejected so we had to re-file them the correct way. I am waiting patiently to see if I made the deadline to receive a stimulus check. The problem with my case is that on the 2018 taxes I was a dependent so I wouldn’t benefit off of the stimulus checks being sent out very soon. Can anyone help with answers ? 

[Itsmyraa]

It doesn’t matter what you were in 2018 it matters what you are now 2019. They don’t go based off what u were in 2018 only based off the bank account info you had. That’s why they are mentioning 2018 so much because that’s how far back they will go based on the the pay information. You are good 

[Jpeyton5]

This is great advice! What do I do if I already changed my tax return to “someone can claim me” and sent it in? The same thing happened to me where I didn’t even know my dad was going to claim me, and then my return got rejected. Since he was able to claim me, I thought it was legit and changed mine. Now I can’t even get money from the stimulus bill because of this! Is it too late to change my tax return?