Do we need to amend?

[ejhdmh]

I filed taxes for my student granddaughter and then realized I can claim her as a dependent. Her filed return states she is not claimed on anyone's return. She did not have income and is not receiving a refund, nor does she owe. Do we need to file an amendment for this slight revision?

[xmasbaby0]

If your granddaughter had no income why did she file a tax return?     Now that her SSN has been put into the system, you cannot e-file a return that claims her as your dependent.  The system will not allow another return using her SSN to be e-filed.   If you have not yet filed and need to claim her you will need to print, sign and mail your own return.

If you already filed and did not claim your granddaughter, then you can amend after the IRS has fully processed your return.  If she is your dependent then you can also use the education credit.  A dependent cannot claim an education credit.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for amending a tax return - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-return/amend-change-correct-return-a...

[Mike9241]

I think it's best practice to file an amended return for your granddaughter indicating she can be claimed as a dependent.

if you don't there's no telling what the IRS will do when it receives your return claiming her while having her return which implies she can't be claimed as a dependent. 

[ejhdmh]

Thanks for the feedback.  Several searches recommended she file anyway, so we did. She did need to file in previous years, and I didn't feel it would be an issue. Although I obviously jumped the gun on filing this time, since it was afterwards that I realized I could claim her. Of course, I ended up e-filing mine before receiving your answer. It didn't take long to see that it got rejected, so I'm printing mine to send by mail. I'm thankful for your answer because it at least helped me realize why it was rejected.  

[ejhdmh]

Thank you, I will do that.