Receiving "too much" stimulus money. How do I fix this?

[tn14]

My girlfriend has always claimed our two sons because she had made more than me, but this year I am claiming them since I worked and she was a stay at home mom. Since she claimed last year the children's stimulus money was in her name when it came to our joint bank account.

I am claiming them now but now when I enter my stimulus amount on TurboTax it thinks I did not receive our stimulus money for our children and added $2200 to my refund. I was on the phone with a TurboTax person and they stated they did not know what to do and contacted an additional person who did not know what to do either as they haven't run into this with anyone yet. Do we put it so it looks like I had the children on mine to avoid the extra $2200 coming to me? Will the IRS care if we switch the numbers around in that respect since we're not taking money that isn't ours?

[rjs]

There's nothing you have to fix. You are entitled to the additional $2,200. That's the way the stimulus payments work. The simplest thing to do is just leave it the way it is and accept the extra money.

If you really feel bad about taking the money, when TurboTax asks how much you received for each stimulus payment you could add the amount for the children and say that you received more than you actually did. That will eliminate the credit on your tax return. But the IRS might correct it and send you the extra $2,200 anyway. I don't know if they'll do that, but they know how much they sent you. Again, the simplest thing is to just take the extra money.

[tn14]

I am thinking if I take it they'd end up auditing me and requiring me to repay it with penalties, no?

[rjs]

No. They know that parents who don't file jointly, for whatever reason, can both end up getting the payment for the same children. As I said, that's the way the system works. There is no obligation to repay it. Relax and take the money.