He cannot claim himself or his daughter as a dependent now that she did this.Is it right or legal?A paid tax preparer did her taxes for her.
2007-03-05 07:43:09 · 3 answers · asked by rafter1669 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
I'm going under the assumption here that the son is not totally and permanently disabled. If he is, then my answer doesn't apply, it might have been legal for his mom to claim him as long as he didn't provide over half of his own support. But if he's NOT disabled:
A 38 year old who made over $3300 gross income in 2006 can NOT legally be claimed as a dependent. If his mom claimed him as a dependent, she did so illegally. She's not eligible for head of household either because of the son, but might be eligible to claim the son's daughter as a dependent and for head of household if she lived with grandma also for over half of the year - otherwise no.
Lots of paid preparers make mistakes, some more than others, so the fact that she had her taxes done by a paid preparer has nothing to do with anything.
The son should file his return claiming himself. If his mother claimed him already, then he'll have to mail in his return. The IRS will contact both him and his mom to determine who is allowed to take the exemption, and the other person will have to pay back the taxes for claiming him illegally. This one is pretty simple, if he's not disabled. Anyone over 24 can't be a qualifying child. Anyone with gross income over $3300 for the year isn't a qualifying relative. Those are the only two kinds of dependents that exist.
Whether or not he can claim his daughter, his mother can, or the daughter's mother or someone else can, depends on a variety of factors not mentioned in your question.
2007-03-05 10:39:45 · answer #1 · answered by Judy 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
No way! Not legally anyways. My guess she lied to her preparer and told him/her the son didn't have any income. What I would suggest is mailing in your return instead of electronically filing it. He'll still be able to claim the daughter and take his own exemption that way. He'll still get his full amount of his refund that he's entitled to. Then later on in the year, if the IRS wants to contest or ask questions to verify the son's right to claim the daughter, he'll need to be prepared to provide proof.
2007-03-05 16:14:57 · answer #2 · answered by Fool in the Rain 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Filing HOH doesn't necessarily mean she actually claimed dependent exemptions for her son and grandchild.
If she did she will have to pay this money back.
Mail in the return, let the IRS sort it out.
Good luck
2007-03-05 16:57:21 · answer #3 · answered by cookie27295 1 · 1⤊ 2⤋