My sons father keeps claiming my son on his taxes without my permission, he doesnt live or support him like he is supposed to. What can I do??

[mj6974]

I cant claim my son who lives with me, but the father keeps claiming him without my permission. The father does not reside with us nor supports him. Please what can I do before he claims him for this year.

[DoninGA]

Why can you not claim your son on your tax return?

[SweetieJean]

I think the poster may have meant "I can't claim him BECAUSE the father keeps claiming him."
@mj6974   Is someone else claiming your son, such as a grandparent with whom the two of you live?

[sam004]

Can the father be arrested for this or will it just be penalties and interest?

[DoninGA]

Penalties and interest.

[sam004]

Can you penalties include arrest? What is considered penalties?

[sam004]

I am asking because I have a friend that is a non-custodial parent that had his child living with him for the majority of the year and mother gave verbal permission for him to file taxes but changed her mind yesterday, after he already filed his taxes. Now, she is saying that if he doesn't give her all the money from his entire tax refund, she will file fraud on him.

[DoninGA]

Fraud is a legal matter and only can be determined in a court of law.  Since your friend is the custodial parent the only way for her to relinquish the personal exemption for a child is to give the non-custodial parent a signed IRS Form 8332.
Read the answers and comments below for the correct course of action.

[Opus 17]

Hi @sam004 ;

The IRS decides custody based on where the child actually lives, not what any court order says.  If the child lived with your friend (slept in his home) more than half the year (more than 183 nights) then your friend is fully entitled to the dependent and does not owe the other parent a dime.  He may need to count the number of nights, and he should take steps to document it as well as possible, as self-defense against a complaint.  Posts to social media showing that the child was in his home, date stamped photos, maybe a letter from the school showing that the bus picked up the child there. A letter from your neighbors if the kids play together a lot.  Anything else that can show the child lived there more 183 nights.  Going forward, I would take a selfie of the parent and child together at bedtime every day, make it a ritual, to prove the number of nights in the future.

If the child did not stay there more than half the year, then your friend is screwed because he relied on "verbal" permission.  The IRS regulations require that, if he will claim the dependent, he must get a signed release form from the other parent and mail it in with his return.  That release form can not be revoked by the custodial parent once filed.  But since this was only verbal, he was not allowed to claim the dependent.

However, he probably does not owe her "all the money from his entire tax refund".  What he can do is tell the mother to claim the dependent and print and mail in her tax return.  Then she will get whatever amount she is legally entitled to, which may be a lot less than "his whole refund" especially if her income is lower.  Your friend will file an amended return to remove the child dependent and pay back whatever *part* of his refund was due to claiming the child, which may be less than the whole thing.

[sam004]

What my friend is wondering is.... what is the worst that will happen? He does not have enough to document for 183 days even though he had him in his custody.

[Opus 17]

The worst is that the IRS assesses back taxes, plus interest from the date originally due (April 15) and if they think he deliberately lied, they can also assess an accuracy penalty.  But it's all money. No jail or anything like that.

But he should not necessarily give up so easily.  If he claims the child and the ex files a complaint, I don't think the IRS will actually do anything.  If the ex files a tax return with a competing dependent claim, the IRS will investigate both parents, and they will be looking for custody evidence from both parents.  They aren't controlled by the court order.  While it may be hard for him to prove he physically had the child, it will be even harder for her to prove.

In my suggestions for evidence I should also have mentioned emails or texts about custody, drop offs and pick ups.  "Can you keep him an extra night so I can go clubbing."  "You didn;t show up to hand him over so I guess I'm keeping him another night." etc.

I wonder if the ex is trying to get "his whole refund" because she knows she won't qualify for much even with the child.

Most important is that he not pay her "his whole refund" to prevent her from filing a complaint.  Because even if he does pay her off, she could still file a complaint, and he is still at risk of losing the dependent investigation, and then would have to pay twice -- once to her and again to the IRS.  IF he actually wants to remove the dependent claim (and I don't think he should), but IF he wants to remove the dependent claim the ONLY thing he should do is file an amended return that removes the child and pay back the IRS, not her, and tell the ex to file her own return and get whatever she is actually entitled to that way.

[nadirah-salam]

I need answers to stop the refund

[nadirah-salam]

Who do I call to report this fraud act

[nadirah-salam]

Please and thanks

[SweetieJean]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-do-you-report-suspected-tax-fraud-activity">https://www.irs.gov/...>
The custodial parent can also file a court motion for a Cease and Desist order.