My daughter filed as she thought I could not claim her as a dependent on my taxes. TT says I can. I haven't filed yet but she already got stimulus check. What do I do?

[wildernesspark]

TurboTax says she still meets the requirements for me to claim her.  I don't know if I should have her do amendmended tax forms and send back her stim money, some how, or me just not claim her on my taxes.  What are my options?

[AnnetteB6]

Your options are:

1 - Have your daughter amend her return to show that she is being claimed as a dependent and then you can claim her as a dependent on your return.

2 - File your return without claiming your daughter as a dependent and leave her return as it was filed.

To determine which of these is your best option, you should probably run some scenarios in TurboTax without actually filing the returns.  Look at the Federal and state results for your return with and without claiming your daughter and also the Federal and state results for your daughter's return with her being claimed as a dependent and not claimed as a dependent.

Then see which combination is financially better for both of you.  If your return is substantially different when you claim your daughter versus what she may lose by amending her return, then you may need to go that direction anyway.  

For practical purposes, if you file your return without claiming your daughter and then later you both decide to amend your returns, you could send the amended returns together to the IRS so that they would be processed at the same time.  

[wildernesspark]

Thank you Annette, Okay. If we decide to have her amend her return, of which she did not pay any taxes since she didn't earn enough, would she send the stimulus money back as taxes owed on the amended return?  I mean, how do we handle the stimulus money appropriately?  Thank you,

[Vanessa A]

Yes, when you change her status, you will see an amount due, that will be the stimulus money that she will need to pay back. When you file the amended return, you will be given the options on how to make the payment, either by direct debit or by sending a check.