Federal Amendment Rejected - Dependent Issue

You can claim your child as a nondependent and claim the earned income credit if you are the custodial parent.

You must identify yourself as the custodial parent in TurboTax. You do so, by indicating that your child lived with you for more than half of the year and that you are allowing the noncustodial parent to claim the child.

Please follow the directions below to claim your child as a nondependent:

1. At MyInfo, input your child's personal information.
2. On the screen titled Tell us more about the child's living situation last year, you must answer more than six months.
3. At the screen Let's get more info about who will be claiming the child, answer Yes to the question
4. Do you have a written or verbal agreement with the other parent about who can claim the child?
5. Answer Yes to the question Is the child's other parent claiming the child per the legal agreement?
6. You will see the screen It turns out the child does not qualify as your dependent.
7. At the screen Your children and others you support, you see the child's name and the description EIC or Dependent Care Credit Only.
8. At Federal / Deductions & Credits / Your tax breaks / You and Your Family / Earned Income Credit (EIC) click Start / Revisit to the right.
9. If you meet the other requirements of the credit, you will qualify for the Earned Income Credit for the nondependent child.

@JamesG1 

Thank you for the instructions. I have done that and the child is being correctly added to the EIC. 

The issue is that the amended 1040 dependent section is showing only my dependent child, while the 1040X dependent section is showing my dependent child and my non dependent child.

The IRS is flagging the mismatch between the two forms.

@cardi18

Go back through the questions regarding your non-dependent child and make certain that everything that you answered is related to the child not being your dependent.  Based on what you're seeing it seems as though the system thinks that you have added them as a dependent.

@RobertB4444 

I have answered that the child lived with me all year and that her other parent & I have an agreement stating he will claim her. The summary page correctly shows her as “nondependent (for EIC/dependent care only)”.

After doing this, when I go into forms, the software is listing her in the dependent section on my 1040X but with the box for child tax credit not checked.  The software is not listing her at all in my dependent section of the 1040. The IRS is rejecting this mismatch.

I believe she should not be listed at all in the dependents box of my 1040X, but I don’t know how to get her off there since everything is correct in the questions mode.

You cannot efile an amended return with a change in dependents ... it must be printed, ink signed and mailed in.  Since you did not need that child for the HOH status  then the only place you will see the child listed as a non dependent will be in the EIC form.

I am having a similar issue.  The 1040 worksheet lists both of my children, one of which I can claim and one I cannot.  The 1040 I submitted only lists the one I can claim.  However when I filed an amendment both showed up on the 1040X.  I did not modify any dependant info in my amendment.  It seem to be an error in the Amendment.  It seems I cannot manually delete the other dependant on the 1040X. 

Turbo tax tells me that this error is blocking the return, but when I open the return there is no info on how to fix it only that it has been rejected.

I am not sure if I need to go back into the initial question and delete them? or if that will mess something else up on the amendment.

@Marty68 

Yes, my issue is very similar! I can't get my nondependent child off the 1040X dependents section, but I do want to keep her on my EIC, so I can't delete her altogether. I have tried deleting both of them and re-adding, but it just did the same thing again.

It definitely seems to be an error in Turbo Tax and I'm not sure what to do. My amendment has been rejected more than once by the IRS for this. Turbo Tax support (after 3+ hours on the phone with them) said to print it and mail it in, but I don't know if I need to modify it by hand before mailing if that's even allowed. I've only ever e-filed.

To clarify,

as Critter-3 points out, the issue is that the IRS does not accept e-filed returns when a change is made to the dependents or how the dependents are claimed. (if the non-custodial parent is allowed to claim the child for certain credits)

What are you trying to change or amend? 

I did get it to work finally.

In my amendment I did not touch any of the dependant info, only updated some income info. However TurboTax kindly added my son who was in the prep worksheets (He had a 1099T) but did not get entered on the 1040.  When the 1040X was created Turbo tax felt the need to enter my son automatically causing the issue.

To resolve this I had to go back to the dependant portion delete him as a possible dependant, which immediately caused another issue because now I had a 1099T floating floating around not attached to anyone.  Once I attached it to my daughter, I could go back into the work sheet and then delete that as well.  Once I deleted my son's 1099T and his profile the forms matched and were accepted.  

By deleting my now non dependant son (over 22), it did not change any of my taxes.  I should be squared away now.

These posts at least gave me some direction of what to look for.  Thanks

@KrisD15 

For mine, I’m trying to amend to add a nondependent (EIC only) child. My state accepted this via e-file, but federal was rejected.

if I print and mail the federal, do I leave it how TurboTax is doing it - with only my true dependent listed on the 1040, but both my dependent and nondependent on the 1040X?

Or do I take a pen and physically cross the nondependent off from the 1040X?

Or can I not use the Turbo Tax generated forms at all?

TurboTax is calculating and generating the EIC forms correctly using both children. The IRS is rejecting TurboTax’s mismatch of the dependent lists between the 1040 and 1040X.

Thanks for your time and help!

To clarify-

On your 1040X where this child's name is listed, is the box in Column 4 checked for Child Tax Credit? 

Is this box checked for the child you are claiming but not for the other? 

How old is the child that you are letting your X claim? 

Yes, I am having the same problem trying to submit my 1040x.  I made no change to my dependents but the software is filling out the 1040x differently than the original 1040 by adding a name in the dependent section.  The IRS E-File Rejects the return because the system thinks you've added a dependent.

Turbotax needs to not add a name to the dependent information in the 1040x if it's not adding it in the 1040 the way I'm reading the error.

@KrisD15 

I have 5 year old twins.

this is how Turbo Tax is filling in the amendment forms:

amended 1040

       dependent child A is the only listing

1040X 

       dependent child A - check for CTC

       nondependent child B - no check for CTC

I guess technically it would be okay because on the 1040X, the CTC box is not checked for the nondependent child. BUT the IRS will not accept it since the nondependent child does not also appear on the amended 1040.

Yes, perfect. 

That indicates that you are the custodial parent, but the child is released to the non-custodial parent for this year. 

The IRS will not accept E-FILED returns changing anything regarding dependents, which is why you need to mail the amended return.  

@KrisD15 

So do I need to just print and mail them in how they are - with the amended 1040 showing one child and the 1040X showing two?

Thanks!

Yes, that is how it should look.  You originally claimed one child as a dependent and left the other child off the return.   Now you are amending to add the second child, but as a nondependent (your ex will claim the dependency and Child Tax Credit for them).    You won't be able to e-file, so the amendment is File By Mail.   You should have an instruction sheet that list addresses and what to include.   

When filing an amended or corrected return:

• Include copies of any forms and/or schedules that you're changing or didn't include with your original return.  (include the 1040 and the 1040X)
• To avoid delays, file Form 1040-X only after you've filed your original return. Generally, for a credit or refund, you must file Form 1040-X within 3 years after the date you timely filed your original return or within 2 years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later.
• Allow the IRS up to 16 weeks to process the amended return.

Addresses are below  @cardi18

I have received an email from TurboTax stating:

Your amended federal tax return was rejected and needs to be resubmitted.

F1040X-016 - For each dependent in 'DependentDetail' on Form 1040-X, there must be a corresponding entry in the same position in 'DependentDetail' on the amended Form 1040 with the same 'DependentFirstNm' and 'DependentLastNm' and 'DependentNameControlTxt' and 'IdentityProtectionPIN' and ( 'DependentSSN' or 'DiedLiteralCd') and 'DependentRelationshipCd' and ( 'EligibleForChildTaxCreditInd' or 'EligibleForODCInd' ).

TurboTax says in the email:

Once you've opened your return in TurboTax, the details about what needs updating will be displayed. From there we can walk you through making the updates you need and help you e-file your return. If it isn't possible to e-file your updated return, we'll make sure you have everything you need to print and file your tax return by mail.

But when I open my TurboTax return there no directions. How do I resolve this error? I have one child.

@gbartlett80 

What are you amending for? If you are adding or removing a dependent, or adding or removing a nondependent from your earned income credit or dependent care credit, you have to print and mail your amendment. I found out e-file is not allowed in those cases.

@RobertB4444 @KrisD15 

This issue is affecting me too. 

My situation: I have 2 children, but only claim 1 of them as a dependent.  The reason I am preparing an amended return is because I accidentally forgot a 1099B.  That is:  I didn't change *anything* about my dependents.

The IRS rejected my federal return because my dependent list on my 1040x didn't match what is on my 1040.

I believe there is a *bug* in the code that generates the dependent list on the 1040x, probably limited to folks who have a non-dependent child.  Please fix!

You may want to mail your Amended Return.  An Amended Return does not 'catch up' to your original return and correct it; it is processed separately.

The IRS takes 12-16 weeks to process an Amended Return (mailed or efiled), so no rush to get it in.

You should not submit an Amended Return until your original return has been processed and you have received your Refund.

When you print or save your Amended Return, you can verify if the dependents match your original 1040.

Click this link for more info on Amending Federal Returns. 

Since we can't see your return in this forum, you can Contact TurboTax Help where they are able to do that. 

Yeah, I agree TurboTax should be having a dev look in to this problem so it can at least be fixed for next year if it won't be fixed this year.  Having every customer that has to amend a return that has a HOH status mail in their amended return doesn't seem like the appropriate course of action.

How do I get a person on the phone when I call [phone number removed]? When I call, I can't get anyone on to assist.

The reason for my amendment is that I received two additional 1099s as I provided services for those two companies who sent the 1099s a bit late.