Dependant claimed themself as a Dependant

Clydewolf,

My daughter moved out in October 2008 and filed her taxes before we did. She claimed herself as a dependant on her return without our knowledge and we claimed her as well. She lived with us a majority of the year, was a full-time student, and we provided more than half of her cost-of-living.

When I tried to e-file through TurboTax, our return was kicked back by the IRS for this reason. If the problem persists, I believe we will have to file through the mail, because e-file will not accept our return.

Is there some workaround available? Should we just not claim her (and lose the $3500 dependant deduction)?

Thanks!

Dingobisquit,

That is a tough situation.

The best thing would have been for your daughter to tell you before she filed.
At least then you would have had an opportunity to talk through the situation and perhaps figure out which way paid the least amount of combined tax.

While it appears you have the legal position to claim the dependency, to keep peace in the family dropping her as a dependent is probably best.

I hope she had sufficient earned income to claim a good share of the stimulus money.

Thanks.

Losing her as a dependant greatly reduces our refund amount, whereas she earned so little last year (full-time student, part-time employee), her refund amount would not change. We both decided that the best course of action would be for her to amend her taxes.