Help please!!

[Dposey1984]

I am on SSDI. And have a 9 year old Autistic non verbal daughter That I agreed to let my mother claim on her taxes. She is telling me that she has not received her text refund And I am pretty sure she is lying, she's an habitual liar. How do I find out if she has received her tax refund yet?? And how do I press charges if she has committed fraud?

[VolvoGirl]

Only the IRS can tell you or her.  If she mailed her return it will take a long time to process and send the refund.  

What does the IRS say at Where’s My Refund
https://www.irs.gov/refunds

[xmasbaby0]

You "agreed" to let your mother claim your child?   Does your mother provide over half the support for your child?   If so, she could claim her as a dependent with no need for your permission.   And....sorry for your child's health issues, but they have nothing to do with the issue.   There are no extra federal deductions or credits for saying a child has a disability or medical condition.

Do you and your child live with your mom?   Why did you "agree" to allow your mother to claim your child and why are you now considering telling the IRS your mom has committed fraud?  And...you cannot find out if your mother received a tax refund.  The IRS will not give you that information.

Provide some details.

[rjs]

Your mother cannot claim your daughter as a dependent just because you said she could. She has to meet all the requirements for a dependent. Go to Whom May I Claim as a Dependent? on the IRS web site and answer the questions as if you are your mother to see if she can claim your daughter.

As xmasbaby0 said, you cannot find out from the IRS whether your mother received her tax refund. But why do you need to know that? Did your mother promise to give you part of her refund? That's between you and her.

And what exactly is the fraud that you think your mother has committed? If she does meet the requirements to claim your daughter as a dependent, there is no fraud. Failing to give you money that she promised to you is not fraud.

[xmasbaby0]

Go through these questions as if you are your mother:

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

[Opus 17]

Let's consider the actual rules.  They are in publication 501.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

There are two types of dependent, qualifying child and qualifying relative.  Qualifying child will allow the person claiming the child to get up to $2000 in child tax credit, but that requires income earned from working.  A qualifying relative gives a $500 tax credit.  Your mother (the child's grandmother) can only claim the child as a dependent if all of the following conditions are true.

To claim as Qualifying child	To claim as Qualifying relative
The child must live in the same home as the grandmother for more than half the nights of the year.	The child and grandmother do not have to live together.
The child didn't provide more than half their own support (such as, from working).	The grandmother must pay more than half the child's total financial support, and the child's taxable income must be less than $4700.
If the child lives with the grandmother and one or both parents in the same home, the grandmother can only claim the child if the grandmother's income is higher than either parent.	The grandmother can't claim the child if any other taxpayer (usually a parent) can claim the child ahead of them.
If the child lives with the grandmother and one or both parents in the same home, the grandmother can only claim the child if neither parent is a taxpayer.  A taxpayer is someone whose taxable income is more than $13,850, or their income is less but they file a return to claim any other credit or benefit.

Your mother might be allowed to claim the child as a qualifying relative dependent ($500) but only if she provides more than half the child's total financial support (the support provided by the grandmother must be more than the total of all other support, including SSDI or SSI in the child's name, money that you pay to support the child from your SSDI, other government and charitable assistance, and child support from the other parent.)

Your mother probably is not allowed to claim the child as a qualifying child dependent unless you all share the same home.  If you do share the same home, and you are not a "taxpayer" (because your taxable income is so low that you don't file) then it could be perfectly legal for your mother to claim the child.  

There is no way for you to know what is happening with her tax return, taxpayer privacy laws prevent it.

There is not much point in filing a fraud complaint, especially since (if fraud did occur) you agreed to it.  If you don't have more than $13,850 of taxable income, or at least some income from working, you did not lose anything by not claiming the child yourself.   In the future, the best way to prevent someone else from claiming your child as a dependent improperly is to file a tax return and claim the child yourself.

If the IRS has delayed paying her refund, it might be due to the dependent issue, or something completely separate.  It would be best to let the IRS and your mother work it out without your help or interference.