EIC

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
February 16, 2021
2 replies
4 views

My boyfriend and I had a child last year. We agreed that I would claim the child however he unknowingly claimed him for the EIC without claiming him as a dependent. When I submitted mine with all of the dependent credits of course it got rejected. I can’t figure out how to remove the EIC from my return so that my child can be claimed. Please help

Not A Product Question

MayaD

Alumni - Intuit

To remove your child for EIC purposes, follow these steps (this won't affect your Child Tax Credit):

Sign in to your account and select the Fix my return button.
At the Welcome back to TurboTax message, select My Info in the left menu.
On the Personal info summary screen, select Edit next to the dependent in question.
Continue until you reach the How many months did [child] live with you in 2020? screen. On this screen, select 5 months (or less) under [Child] lived with me for..., and then Continue.
Keep answering the questions until you get to the Your children and others you support screen, then select Done.

For more information please check How to remove your child from the EIC

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Hal_Al

Level 15

The other reply is wrong, if you and your boyfriend live together. You do not remove EIC. You claim the child for ALL tax benefits.

A common error is when unmarried parents live together, If you and the other parent live together, only one of you can claim the child for any tax benefit. The interview is confusing (it's designed for divorced parents, who are allowed to split the child). The second parent should not enter the child, at all.

You will have to mail in a paper return. He will have to file an amended return, unclaiming the child and most of the EIC and pay back most of his refund. He cannot file an amended return until his original return is fully processed (he gets his refund). You don't need to wait for that to happen, you can file now, put only by snail mail.

If you and the other parent live together, either one of you (but not both) may claim the child. You may decide between you which one will claim the child. Only if you can’t agree, do the IRS tie breaker rules apply, to see who has first choice. It may be worthwhile to prepare trial returns, both ways, to see which way the family comes out best. This tool may be useful: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/calculators/taxcaster/?s=1.