When i filed for 2020 taxes, i forgot to take my child off of the Earned Income Credit section. My childs father is NOW telling me he couldnt claim her because of it. Now my Amended Return is getting rejected and i cant paper file for the State Amend until i get the Federal Amend accepted. NO agent is helpful. i need help BAD
Edit: i got help already from an amazing turbo tax agent. Further comments aren’t needed. Thank you!
You are too late to e-file any tax return now---federal or state. E-filing is permanently closed for 2020 returns and will not re-open until they open up for 2021 returns next year.
And if your child's other parent is claiming her after you already filed and claimed the child then he has to mail his own return too since it is too late to e-file. The IRS will sort out who could rightfully claim the child.
You say you had to amend for custody reasons. Who is the custodial parent? Which parent did the child live with for at least 183 nights in 2020? You both need to know and understand the rules.
Are you the custodial parent? Do you have an agreement with the other parent to allow the other parent to claim them--due to divorce or that you live apart and share custody? Did one of you sign a Form 8332?
If there is a signed 8332 then the custodial parent retains the right to file as Head of Household, get earned income credit and the childcare credit. The non-custodial parent gets the child tax credit for children under the age of 17.
As far as the IRS is concerned, the custodial parent is the one with whom the child spent the most nights during the tax year--at least 183 nights.
If you are a non-married couple who live together then only one of you can claim the child(ren) and the one not claiming the child does not enter anything at all on their tax return about the child.
THANK TOU BRITNEY FROM TURBOTAX FOR YOUR HELP!!! YOU ARE AMAZING!!!!
@ashaleerc1994 You can amend if you need to. But again.....even if you amend, it will not enable the other parent to e-file. E-filing is closed. And returns now being filed must be filed by mail. And it takes the IRS at least six months to process an amended return, so do not expect quick results from amending.
Select your tax year for amending instructions:
Even during “normal” times it takes about four months for the IRS to process an amended return. During the pandemic and due to the severe backlog at the IRS it is taking much longer—six months or more for many amended returns. Do not expect quick results from amending. When the IRS issues a refund for an amended return it will be by check. They do not make direct deposits for refunds for amended returns. You can watch for information here:
https://www.irs.gov/Filing/Individuals/Amended-Returns-(Form-1040-X)/Wheres-My-Amended-Return-1
no one is asking you to disclose information. However, it is a black letter tax law that the only parent who can claim EIC is the parent where the child lives more than half the nights of the year. EIC cannot be shared or transferred to the noncustodial parent, even if the noncustodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent. If you were removing EIC but your ex did not have custody of the children half the nights of the year, then you are giving up thousands of dollars of credit and you are enabling your ex to commit tax fraud. If the IRS discovers this, both you and your ex can be barred from EIC for a minimum of two years.
There is a special rule in the case of divorced & separated (including never married) parents. When the non-custodial parent is claiming the child as a dependent/exemption/child tax credit; the custodial parent is still allowed to claim the same child for Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status, and day care credit. This "splitting of the child" is not available to parents who lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year; then only one of you can claim the child for any tax reasons. The tax benefits may not be split in any other manner.
Note in particular that the non-custodial parent can never claim the Earned Income Credit, Head of Household filing status or the day care credit, based on that child, even when the custodial parent has released the dependency to him.
Ref: https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170897
Scroll down to "Children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart)"
Tyr Instructions for Form 1040-X from the IRS.
There is no such thing as a 50/50 case.
For tax purposes, there is no such thing as joint custody, regardless of what your legal agreement says. The requirement, to be custodial parent, is that the child live with you MORE than 50% of the time (sleeps at your home more than half the nights of the year). One of you has to be the custodial parent and the other the non-custodial parent. The IRS goes by physical custody, not legal custody.
In the rare case (could probably only happen in a leap year like 2020), where the time that each parent has the child is exactly equal, then the parent with the higher income (AGI) is the custodial parent, for the purpose of determining who has first priority on claiming the child as a dependent. But then neither parent can claim a Qualifying Child dependent, for some tax benefits because neither parent had the child the required MORE than half the year (no earned income credit, based on that child, and the child would not qualify the parent for Head of Household filing status).