Tax Year Prior to 2020: What to do if someone else claim my son on thier incom tax without my permission

[Critter-3]

@Tina4224 

Mailed in returns will probably take much longer to process again this year so expect it to take 6 months or more and be thrilled if it comes in sooner.  

[xmasbaby0]

Last year during the pandemic,  unopened mailed returns were piled up in trailers for months---the IRS is still digging through a few of those.    Bad as it is for 2020----it's better than last year for many mailed returns.  Sorry you have to wait.  Eventually when they open your envelope and key it into the system you will see information on the refund site.

[Justin83]

I was reading that if you have 50/50 custody the person that made the most in gross is the one who can claim the children. I’ve seen it on multiple threads and posts..

[xmasbaby0]

@Justin83 The IRS considers the parent that the child spent the most nights with---at least 183 nights--to be the custodial parent.   There is no such thing as 50-50 custody when you start counting up the nights.

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. 

[Justin83]

Tax credits and the dependent deduction usually go hand-in-hand; you can't claim the credit if you don't first have the deduction. The IRS gives the dependent deduction to the parent with whom the child lives most during the tax year. Unless your shared custody arrangement involves your child living with you 182 days a year, with your ex 182 days a year, and sharing the last day of the year with both of you, one of you is the custodial parent according to IRS rules, because one of you has your child a little more than the other. That parent is the custodial parent for IRS purposes, and she gets the deduction. If your shared custody arrangement actually is an exact 50/50 split of parenting time, the IRS gives the deduction to the parent with the highest adjusted gross income. Otherwise, if you have your child 45 percent of the year, and your ex has her 55 percent of the year, your ex is the custodial parent, regardless of what your divorce decree or custody order says.

[macuser_22]

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@Justin83 wrote:

If your shared custody arrangement actually is an exact 50/50 split of parenting time, the IRS gives the deduction to the parent with the highest adjusted gross income.

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Very unlikely, but possible.  In that case NEITHER parent lived with the child MORE then 1/2 the year so nobody can claim the child at all.

The rules for the "parent with the highest  income" tie breaker only applies if BOTH parents lived with the child the exact same amount of time, but MORE than half the year.    This can usually only happen when both parents and the child lived together part of the year (days cannot be split and the IRS only counts nights.

See Custodial parent and noncustodial parent in Pub 501

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000220904

[kiwii09]

hi my name lateshia edler somebody keep on claim my  son on there income taxes without my premission last year and this year i never got my money at all for my kids it always come on my direct express card but no i am struggle with no money at all i need the money to take care of my kids with i never gave anybody my kids social secuertiy number with my premission  it never came on my direct express card at all i never got the first $600 for my son at all or the second one at all i dont know my kids social security number at all 

[Critter-3]

Request  IP PIN numbers for you and your child so no one can do this again in the future ...

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f15227.pdf

[Pinkforce93]

My  childs father claimed her before i could without warning. Now with the credit of 300 being an advancement for next year's taxes,he's getting part of my return for next year.

[Justin83]

You should have mailed in your taxes by mail. The irs would have paid you out and would decide who should have gotten the taxes eventually. Who ever had the kids less or whatever has to pay it back.

[xmasbaby0]

@Pinkforce93 If someone else claimed your child on a tax return, and you are really the custodial parent, then print, sign and mail your own tax return that claims your child.  You cannot e-file if the child's Social Security number was already used on a tax return.   The IRS will sort out who could rightfully claim the child and receive the child-related credits.   If you do not receive the monthly child tax credit payments and you are the one who can claim the child, then you will get the credit on your own 2021 tax return when you file it next year.  The other person might have to pay back the money they received if they filed incorrectly.

[Tina4224]

Someone claimed my child on my 2020 taxes , and since they did their taxes first, they received credit for my child. So I filed a "paper version" of my completed taxes, with my son, and fraud form 14039 and mailed them on March 22, 2021. Have not received, even a letter from IRS stating my taxes were even received, and did not get my child tax credit either, because the others who claimed my child fradulently, received my child tax credit. So 6 months is not long enough to even start the process, being I am a single mother. 

[Tina4224]

I'm not worried nor concerned or focused on anything but the fact I filed my taxes as required, but they were rejected , so mailed the paper version copy and fraud.  Form 14039, March 22, 2021 with not a call or letter stating the IRS has even processed, begun to process, or even received them, and it is now August 22, 5 months to the day.  And no child tax credit either, bevause the IRS still believes my child lives w some other family. Even tho he doesnt. And I know FACT, it wasn't his father, unless again he files from his grave

[Tina4224]

So sabrina, you have incorrect info if you believe I am focused on anything but receiving my earned income taxes back, as I should have gotten .

[Tina4224]

I am a custodial parent , and I have mailed my taxes as required March 22, 2021. With fraud form 14039. Not a word yet, 5 months and still waiting