I accidentally marked "someone can claim" me as a dependent but no one did.

[xmasbaby0]

You have several misunderstandings about the rules to be claimed as someone else's dependent.   There are two kinds of dependents--qualifying child or qualifying relative.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, fiance (etc.) as a dependent on your 2020 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

•They are related to you.

•They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

•They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or   Mexican resident.

•They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

•They are under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children

  •      They live with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).

Qualifying relative

•They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).

•They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

•They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.

•They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

•They lived with you the entire year.

•They made less than $4300  (not counting Social Security)

•You provided more than half of their financial support. More info

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them.

Related Information:

•Does a dependent have to live with me?

•What does "financially support another person" mean?

•Can I claim a newborn baby?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/dependents/help/when-do-i-have-to-answer-yes-to-being-claimed-as-a...

[bgrperez]

@xmasbaby0 

Thanks for posting that! I must’ve been getting bits of info from both of those columns in reading through comments. But even so, I don’t meet all the requirements of the “child” column for my mom to claim me. I’m 24, I’ve been out of college for a few years, and I did not live at home for all of 2020. So under that she CANNOT claim me, and I’ll be going through amending my 2020 taxes on March 25 when the 1040X form comes out. I appreciate all the help!!

[NCperson]

@bgrperez and ps - please  don't confuse the rules to be a dependent for tax purposes and the rules to be eligible for insurance under your parent's medical plan.  The rules are totally independent of each other. 

You can certainly be 24 years old and NOT a dependent of your parents for income tax purposes but still get medical coverage under their insurance plan. 

[bgrperez]

@NCperson 

ahh I absolutely was mixing the two up! Thanks for the clarification. I can’t keep all this adulting information straight in my brain these days!

[KittyGin]

I've seen you answer several questions on here so I am very thankful! I received unemployment but I was also 24 in 2020 so I am ineligible for my parents to claim me. Unfortunately, they usually have so I went ahead and marked that they would because I actually dont have contact with them. It turns out, they cant, and I'm unable to amend my return until the unemployment credit instructions are made public. So, does that mean I am out of luck for the stimulus? If so, will I be able to get it back some other way? 

[NCperson]

the unemployment calculations have been fixed, no reason you can't amend (and get your stimulus) 

[Critter-3]

@KittyGin 

Due to this year's unprecedented situation it is imperative that you follow the correct procedures or your amended return could be processing for months.  

First  do NOT amend anything until the IRS sends you the original refund. 

Once that happens you can open the program so it will update your return (do NOT use the amendment process YET) and the bottom line should reflect the refund the IRS sent.  If it doesn't then look to see what else the IRS changed.  All changes by the IRS must be reflected in the program BEFORE you start amending.  Colum A of the form 1040X MUST look exactly like the corrected return per the IRS.   Only when then should   you log back in and use the amendment process to get the stimulus money.  

[KittyGin]

Man oh man, so much for being good and filing early xD 
Okay so... the amount I have already received was with the taxed unemployment. When I go into amend my return, it says my refund is a lot higher though I still have not received that extra money. In any case, I cant amend online because turbotax is waiting on instructions for the unemployment credit. So are you saying to wait until I get the unemployment credit first and then try to amend for the stimulus? 

[fanfare]

@Critter-3 

if this is the best TurboTax can do to help  you amend,

you may as well do it manually yourself.

If a TurboTax update changes your return when you open it after filing (it will because congress changed the law in mid-stream).

you'd better have made a copy of your original return before e-Filing, or immediately thereafter.

That copy together with your revised tax return is the only way to verify your Form 1040-X is correct.

[fanfare]

"Colum A of the form 1040X MUST look exactly like the corrected return per the IRS."

Generally this is not even possible.

You don't know what the IRS did to your return.

Your transcript will show what you filed.

Column A is the amount reported - by you.

[KittyGin]

I am still unable to amend my return through turbotax but they just notified me that I will only automatically get my tax refund if my household income is below 150K. The issue is, the amendment I need is the dependency status (since I'm ineligible and not being claimed) which may even disqualify me for THAT on top of the stimulus. This is such a frustrating mess because it took me 6 months to get my unemployment because of how bad our state systems function so I have very little confidence they will correct this if I wait longer. 
Is there any place else I can amend my return? Should I just do it the same way but just change the dependency status? 

[NCperson]

@KittyGin - if I understand the situation, you CAN NOT be claimed by anyone else (which means no stimulus until fixed) compounded by the unemployment situation which needs to be fixed by the IRS/ 

Can you please confirm your 2020 income on line 11 of your tax return.  I got confused from the comment about household income under $150,000.  You always get your refund that you are entitled to.   However, if you are single and your income is more than $98,000, there is no stimulus in any event; you would not be eligible.

so step by step

1) what is your income on your 2020 tax return. Is the stimulus even available to you?

2) let the IRS straighten out the unemployment situation first. 

3) amend, if necessary, which is dependent on your answer to #1.

[KittyGin]

I cannot be claimed by anyone else. 
I am definitely eligible, I wish I wasnt haha.

My parents jointly make over 150,000 so if they view me as a dependent of them, they may revoke that part of the refund. I dont have contact with them, however. 

Alright, I'll wait for the corrected return... does this mean I will have to wait until next year to get my stimulus check? 

Thank you for responding so quickly and helpfully, TurboTax support is essentially non-existent at this point and I regret paying extra for it. 

[NCperson]

let me amend what I stated

Since you are not dependent on your parents for support, go ahead and amend your tax return NOW.  When you do so, the 1040X should be smart enough to realize that you are eligible for the stimulus.  What you parents income is has no bearing on your eligibility.  

I think there is a comment section and I'd write in that you inadvertently checked the CAN BE claimed box and you are not a dependent, so you want to amend and want to be sure that you receive the $1800 in stimulus payments you are due,

Note that the ONLY way to get the 1st two stimulus payments is through the 2020 tax return, so you need to amend to obtain it. 

for the 3rd stimulus, if you don't receive it, you can get it on Line 30 when you file next year(2021 tax return). Short of receiving the payment from the IRS, that is going to be the ONLY way of obtaining it.   

Separately, suggest just waiting on the IRS to fix the unemployment issue. They have asked that folks not amend as they have the information required to fix the unemployment stuff with out people amending. 

[michelle-vlach]

I thought my ex was claiming our college age daughter and he didn't.  Can i amend to claim her? and if so will I then get a stimulus check for her?  She marked the someone else can claim me box on her return.  TIA!