michaelmars Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 I have seen reference here to this but i have never needed it before, of course my last return of 4/15 was rejected, "ss# of dependent already used". Client is the legal guardian of their niece. The efile got rejected and i plan to paper file. Do i include anything special or just wait for the notices to start coming in? They had the child live with them since january 2007 and got the court appointed in april 2007. They paid over $6,000 for preschool and day camp for the child and i'd hate to loose the child care credit, etc. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Are you trying to get HOH as well as dependency from this child? Or is the return MFJ and HOH is not part of the equation? I can't tell from your post. The child is the dependent of the Aunt - your client. The rules are in §151 or §152 in the code book, but just pull up a pub 17 and walk right through the rules. You only need to worry that the child did not support herself on the dependency tests. I assume the citizenship and age test are met. Since you are paper filing anyway, include the court order of guardianship. It would not hurt to add the school records showing clients home as the official record of residence. You will need to get this info anyways, so you might as well get it now. Be prepared for the IRS to deny and make you prove it. I just did one of these (ex claimed kid) and we sent in the info with the paper filed return and the refund came in as we requested on the return. Sometimes it works out. Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmars Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 Age, support, citizenship, etc is not the issue, just that mom and dad are incapable of taking care of their daughter [not sure but i assume drugs] and aunt & uncle stepped in and took child away from them [legally]. I guess mom/dad wanted the deduction and the stimulus payment and filed a return claiming the daughter even though aunt & uncle had custody the whole year. I just want aunt & uncle to get the deductions to help offset the extra costs they are incurring with the minimum amount of hassle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 There is no tie breaker here. You client gets the deduction. When the IRS gets your return, they will either a) Deny the deduction for both Accept your return with documentation and start collection on the parents It is a pretty good bet there will be a hassle within the family, but that has nothing to do with the tax treatment. Good Luck. Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmars Posted April 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 thanks, i wasn't sure what the tie braker thing was but i saw some people here talk about it, i know my client gets the deduction its just that they are procrastinators and i want to make it easy on them. -thanks for your responses Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The tiebreakers come into play in situations where you have divorced parents, unmarried parents, or multi-generational households. Example 1, Mom and daughter live with grandma. Both Mom and Grandma meet the rules to claim the child. Tiebreaker says Mom gets her (parents win over all other relatives). Example 2, Unmarried mom and dad live together with child. Both meet the requirements to claim child. Dad has higher AGI so claims kid (higher agi breaks tie between parents). Example 3, Divorced parents have joint custody of child. Most number of nights the kid slept at each home breaks tie between divorced parents. So when multiple persons meet the rules to claim the child, you start applying tiebreakers. In your case, there is no other person eligible to claim the child, hence, no tiebreaker to apply. Hope this helped. Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lion EA Posted April 21, 2008 Report Share Posted April 21, 2008 The IRS applies the tiebreakers when two or more taxpayers claim the same dependent. If the eligible taxpayers can agree on which one of them will claim the QC, then the tiebreakers never come into play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelmars Posted April 23, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2008 great explanation, thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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