What will happen

[Snaggletooth]

if we file a paper return?

Client has $5000 refund, most of it due to two children. His wife left him and her two children for another man, and client was awarded custody.

E-file was rejected because children have already been claimed. Ex-wife simply beat him to the punch for e-filing.

Will filing a paper return assure his refund, and will IRS launch forth spinning the wheels of justice (fat chance)?

Anyone familiar with what happens here? Thanks in advance.

[gman]

Doubt it

I would be suprised if they would send refund. If kids are already claimed, start gathering info to prove where and who provided for kids. Also send any legal info that states who get custody.

[BP.]

if we file a paper return?

Client has $5000 refund, most of it due to two children. His wife left him and her two children for another man, and client was awarded custody.

E-file was rejected because children have already been claimed. Ex-wife simply beat him to the punch for e-filing.

Will filing a paper return assure his refund, and will IRS launch forth spinning the wheels of justice (fat chance)?

Anyone familiar with what happens here? Thanks in advance.

Refund will be issued, then both parties will get a letter early summer asking to amend if a dependent was claimed in error.

[DaveO]

Agree with BP, in addition the loser may be banned from the EITC program for future returns.

Attach a copy of the custody order to the original return.

[ChEAr$]

The correct remedy

for this fellow is indeed to paper file the return with sufficient substantiation for the two
kids. I would add something else in addition to custody decree, maybe a school record?
Just to be sure.

However, in this case it just may not be the ex mother (!) who claimed the kids. Perhaps
someone else to whom she "sold" the names and ssn's. that happens you know.

There's no way to find out, either.

[dustoffgirl]

Proof

I had this happen it happed to be to my siter and her new hubby and they raise his son. They had custody all year we sent in a letter from the day care he attended every weekday with the signature of the parents that signed him in and out and that was easy proof for tie breaker rule that they had them over 50% of the time. The birth mother ended up having to pay back everything because she claimed HH and EIC. Gotta love white trash America anything for a buck.

[thomtax]

I got a new client last year. Efile was rejected for one of the children already being used. Clients have three children, all belonging to them, no divorces, etc. All the children have the same last name as parents. They paper filed and got the refund and no correspondence from IRS. We had hoped that it would be cured. This year same problem, someone else claimed their oldest child and they have to paper file. This is 4th year.

I gave them the phone number for Taxpayer Advocate office to see if they can get some help there. We will see what happens.

LT

[geekgirldany]

I had a customer that was divorced and claiming his daughter. Every year he would try to beat her mother on getting the returns efile. She was pretty quick. Every year he had to do a paper return and had to prove that he was entitled to claim the daughter. He moved out state and I told him to call the advocates office to get help. The mother had used the daughter's ss# to open all sorts of accounts. 15 years old and had bad credit.

[fliszt]

I agree with ChEA$

I've been thru this too and if you do as ChEA$ says, it'll go through with no problems.
Larry

[taxxcpa]

E-filing with kids claimed twice

I have had this come up. The children lived with the mother and her ex-husband filed before she did two years in a row. She was eager to get her refund, so after the IRS rejected her e-filing with the children claimed, I dropped the kids and filed it without claiming them. Then we sent an amended return claiming them and explaining it.

Doing it that way enabled her to get her first refund quickly, then eventually get the rest.

[Acownt4it]

credit report

geekygirl brought up the point I was thinking about. You should inform your clients to check their child's credit report because there may be more going on behind the scenes that they don't know about.