who can i contact if someone else claims my children on their tax return?

Question

my ex husband claim our girls on his tax return and he lives in another state. They have never lived with him since the divorce 5 yrs ago. who can i call to report this.

Answer 1

You need to file a paper return

When 2 people claim the same child on a tax return, It raises a flag with the IRS. They will first send a letter advising that the same SSN was used twice and advise that the person who was not entitled to claim the child needs to file an amended return. Then if no one corrects the return the IRS will request from both parties to submit proof of entitlement to claim the child. The IRS will then make a detemination on who is entitled to claim the child and it the person who is seen as the one NOT allowed to claim the child will owe back any refund they received in reference to the child along with penalties and interest and their Tax return will be flagged for review for up to the next 10 years
For more clarification call the Internal Revenue Service at
1-800-829-1040

This will cause a delay in processing your return and your refund

Answer 2

You can't contact anyone regarding this. Here's how to proceed:

You must file a paper return and claim the exemptions for the children on your return. The IRS will then flag both returns and contact you both, asking for proof of eligibility to claim them. Do not delay in responding to that letter!

The IRS will then determine who gets the exemptions, based on the law and the proof provided. You should be awarded the exemptions, whereupon they will process your return as filed. They will then send whomever else claimed them a bill for the taxes due due to the denial of the exemptions.

The IRS will not discuss the other taxpayer's return with you or even tell you who the taxpayer is.

Answer 3

First off, my condolences on the loss of your husband. Being a widow is hard. Being young widow is harder and being a young widow with young children is the worst. Keep your head up. As for your sociopathic mother in law: Say this: "If you choose to claim my children as dependents on your tax return, I can't stop you. However, I will report you to the IRS and once they realize that you falsified a tax return, you'll be in big trouble." That should knock the wind out of her sails. As for the rest of the harassment, your former m-i-l sounds like she was insanely jealous of you. Some women really can't tolerate not being the number one woman in their son's life. My advice? Allow psycho-grandma to communicate with the children via cards, letters, and emails but temporarily end verbal communication. The last thing your children need after having lost a parent is to put up with a selfish, immature old woman who is supposed to care about their feelings but doesn't. Good luck.

Answer 4

Check the IRS dot gov web pages. Has mr x been claiming the girls for multiple years? That is money out of my pocket as a taxpayer. IRS may have a finders fee for reporting tax cheats.I would encourage you to get in touch directly with the IRS yourself. Quite simply, he has committed fraud and defrauded the US Treasury by filing false income tax returns, not to mention receiving a tax cutting benefit that you should be claiming. Good luck, also check on if you could receive an adjustment from the IRS for all the years X filed false returns and have them issue you a tax credit for this year!

Answer 5

It's not a matter of you reporting him. What will happen is, if you both claim them, it'll flag both of your returns for further attention. They'll check out both of you and they'll find that the kids are living with you, and then they'll nail him.

Just because he's cheating on his taxes doesn't mean you're not entitled to take your exemptions for them.

Answer 6

The Internal Revenue Service

Answer 7

Whom provides the financial support? If you provide more than 1/2 of their support, you are entitled to the dependency deduction. But you must prove your case.

Go to your local IRS district office and request an audit for you and your ex-husband.
Provide all of the documentation necessary to prove your case. It will take the IRS about three months to arrive at a detemination on which party is entitled to the exemptions.

I would not claim any additional exemptions this year until the IRS makes their determination.

Best Wishes.

Answer 8

Talk to your accountant. He will tell you whether or not your husband qulifies under tax law to be able to do this. I think that more is taken into account than primary residence.