E-file then amended return.

[Bird Legs]

Facts: Client, divorced mother, with 4 children living at home. Oldest 2 are 15 & 13. Mother
provides full support.
Mother, in past years, have not claimed the 2 oldest children as dependents on her tax
return. Father has claimed them with mothers verbal consent. Children never lived with father, and father refuses to pay child support.

For 2005, mother told father that she was claiming all 4 children.
I prepared and E-filed the 2005 tax return. This return was rejected by IRS for the reason
that another return had previously been filed using 2 of the SS No.
Apparently the father had previously filed his return claiming the 2 oldest children as
dependents.

Question: Can Mother E-file another return claiming just 2 children as dependents, then
later filing a 1040x claiming all 4 children and then fighting it out with the IRS and
ex husband? Doing this would be getting the smaller refund back faster, with the
remainder being refunded at a later date.

[Lion]

Yes

Yes, definitely do it that way if it results in a refund that she can use now. As you say, a paper return with all four children will result in extra processing time anyway, so it can be the 1040X. Good luck.

[Bird Legs]

E-File return

Can a client E-file a return after a paper return has been mailed? Say 2 or 3 days after
mailing paper return?
Thanks

[BP.]

No, I don't see how this would be possible. The first return that is mailed is an original 1040 right? Then the e-filed return would be another original 1040, as amended returns are not eligible for e-file. So it sounds like implicit in your question is the fact that two 1040's for the same taxpayer would be filed, one mailed, then one e-filed. Are the two returns the same or different? What would you be trying to accomplish by doing this?

[Unregistered]

Of course, a client can e-file a return after the same return is mailed. The e-file return gets there faster. The only thing is why would one be crazy to do something like that. The IRS would just disregard the mailed-in return.