Will it affect my current year's tax return if one of my children's last name is different from previous years but holds the same social security number?

[hbl3973]

noturmoney777,

If the Social Security Administration was notified of the name change and issued a new Social Security Card, you will be fine.  If not, do take care of this.  Info on how to do this is at https://www.ssa.gov/ssnumber/ss5doc.htm .  This would avoid major hassles with your return.

[Critter-3]

The IRS matches the first 4 letters of the last name, the SS# and the year of birth ... if any of these on the return doesn't match the SS administration records the return will be rejected.   So look at the current SS card carefully and use that information on the return.