My parent accidentally filed me as a dependent. I am an independent adult. How can I fix this so my taxes will not be withheld but also file as an independent?

[Coleen3]

If you don't meet the rules for either qualifying child or relative and your parents truly should not have claimed you, then they will need to amend their return and remove you. You will have to mail in your return. The return will not e-file after your parents claimed you.

In general, to be a taxpayer’s Qualifying Child, a person must satisfy four tests:

Relationship — the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (whether by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of one of these.

Residence — has the same principal residence as the taxpayer for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in certain cases, for children of divorced or separated parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for children who were born or died during the year.

Age — must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

Qualifying Relative

• Do they live with you? Your relative must live at your residence all year or be on the list of “relatives who do not live with you” in Publication 501. About 30 types of relatives are on this list.
• Do they make less than $4,050? Your relative cannot have a gross income of more than $4,050 and be claimed by you as a dependent. 
• Do you financially support them? You must provide more than half of your relative’s total support each year. 
• Are they a citizen or resident? The person must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. national, a U.S. resident, or a resident of Canada or Mexico. Many people wonder if they can claim a foreign-exchange student who temporarily lives with them. The answer is maybe, but only if they meet this requirement.
• Are you the only person claiming them as a dependent? You can’t claim someone who takes a personal exemption for himself or claims another dependent on his own tax form.
• Are they filing a joint return? You cannot claim someone who is married and files a joint tax return. Say you support your married teen-aged son: If he files a joint return with his spouse, you can’t claim him as a dependent.

[Tone1976]

What can I do my parents claim me by mistake and I am 43 on SSI and now I can't receive any money from the government stimulus check because of that probably. How can I fix it when they already received the check from the irs is it to late.

[MayaD]

If you don't qualify as a dependent on their return, you need to file your return by mail. If you e-file, your return will be rejected. 

Later on the IRS will send you a letter stating that you were claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. Your parent will receive the same letter. If you can proof that you don't qualify as a dependent on your parents return they will have to amend their return.

[AnnDonovan59]

My son accidently claimed me on his tax form. I get SSI and

I make over the amount allowed for this. He didn't realize this.

Claiming me did not effect the amount of his return

How can we fix this

[DeanM15]

Your son will need to file an amended return without you as a dependent. Once that return is processed, you can file your own return. 

Unfortunately, an amended return must be filed by mail. The IRS is currently not processing returns filed by mail, only e-filed returns. Generally, it takes about 6 weeks to process a return filed by mail, but it is impossible to predict how long an amended return filed today would take. 

If you earned over $4,200 in taxable income in 2019, then you may not be claimed as a dependent. SSI is not taxable income. 

@AnnDonovan59

[greddyprincesa]

• My mom claimed me as a dependent on her taxes even though I’m 19 and I live in my own apartment in a different city. I financially supported myself through the year of 2019 and I was wondering how I could change myself to an Independent ?? I already received my 2019 tax return 

[NCperson]

@greddyprincesa - your mom needs to amend her taxes .

you don't need to do anything to yor taxes 

[greddyprincesa]

What do I do after she amends her taxes? 

[NCperson]

@greddyprincesa - nothing - you should get the stimulus 

• The stimulus payments are really based on your 2020 tax return (income, dependents, etc).
• The IRS is using either 2018 or 2019 – whatever is available  - to ESTIMATE that payment
• When you file next year there will be a “settle up” section on the tax return. 
• If you are due more stimulus (and this would include where you simply never received it), you will receive it through the 2020 tax filing. I
• f you received too much, by law, you are not required to return it

[CarreyM]

My sister accidentally filed me as a dependent but since I made more than the amount to be considered a dependent she amended her taxes. Her amended taxes got approved but I still have not received my federal tax return, I filed by mail in September. Her letter of approval just came in about a week ago. Do I have to do anything else on my end? 

[xmasbaby0]

@CarreyM When you filed your tax return did you say in My Info that you CANNOT be claimed as someone else's dependent?   If so, then you will just have to wait for the IRS to process your mailed return, which may take months.   It is taking the IRS six months or longer to process mailed returns, so all you can do is wait for them.   Your 2020 refund information is not going to show up on the IRS refund site because they will begin to show information for 2021 refunds when they start accepting 2021 returns next month.

[Pipersj1]

If I have this same scenario (she filed me as a dependent when I am not and I filed as an independent) but my mother won’t amend her taxes, will that cause any issues? @NCperson 

[TeresaM]

If you e-filed first this year, then if she tries to claim you as a dependent, her e-file will be rejected, and she will need to file by mail, which is significantly longer this year as the IRS still has a large backlog of paper returns from last year. And vice versa, if she e-filed first, you will need to file your return by mail. This situation happens frequently, and the IRS is accustomed to resolving this question.

After the IRS receives both forms, they may make an adjustment and send a letter explaining the change and an appeal process.
Or they may request more information, and the letter will explain what they want, when they want it, and what happens if they do not hear back. It should be very specific.

Just to be sure, please review this TurboTax Help article with a quick checklist to see if you might be a qualifying relative for your mother. Qualifying Dependents