How do I get my mom to stop claiming me on her taxes?

Question

(I had to ask this again because I keep leaving info out)

I am 20 years old, I have my own apartment I pay all the bills there, (I do go to her house sometimes for a few weeks), I have my own car for which I pay my own note and insurance. I also pay my cell-phone bill She only gives me money for gifts at Birthday and Holidays time (probably about $100) each time. I want her to stop claiming me on her taxes, but she will not. I want to claim myself. What can I do?

She does pay my cell phone bill sometimes (about 5 times a year)
She does have me on her medical insurance policy, but I have asked her to take me off because I have insurance with my school.

I am a full-time college student (out of state), I work 2 part-time jobs.
I pay for all: housing, books, food, tuition expenses, and EVERYTHING related to me. She does not shell out any money for me to be in school, she only gives me gifts at Christmas and birthday and SOMETIMES she pays my cell.

Answer 1

Tell your mom you are filing taxes & claiming yourself & suggest that she not claim you because if the IRS audits you both, she will lose the deduction and have to pay back taxes, interest & penalties (assuming all your facts are accurate & you can prove it to the IRS).
Bottom line is that YOU don't have to get her to stop claimimg you, you need to claim you. Warning her of that fact.is not required but is considerate.

Answer 2

If you have income and provide your own upkeep, you should claim yourself as an exemption on your tax return. Your mother can claim you only if she provides more than 50 percent of your upkeep, which does not seem to be the case. Simply inform your mother than you are filing your tax return and claiming yourself, and if she also claims you she will be in violation. If the IRS discovers the false claim she will be subject to penalties, interest, and taxes due.

But wait! How much income do you have and how much does your mother have? If she is in the 35% tax bracket and you are in the 10% tax bracket, then your and her total tax would be less if she claims you. If there is even a $50 saving, you should be able to figure out what to do with it.

Answer 3

you are not in charge of what your mother does or how deep she gets into a problem with the IRS.

your tax return only asks you if you can be legally claimed on someone else's return for the tax year, not whether someone else did do so [which you can't know anyway].

for her to legally claim you as a dependent in 2007, your mother would have to show that she provided over 1/2 your support over the span of the entire year. assuming that she can not make that claim truthfully, you can go ahead and claim yourself on your tax returns.

Answer 4

If she will not listen to your requests, then you should claim yourself when filing your 2007 income taxes.

Of course, she will claim you too.

At that point, the IRS' systems recognize that your social security number has been claimed twice and will require both you and your mom to submit proof of dependecy. Since you are paying for virtually everything, you should be able to win the dispute by showing documentation - i.e. bank statements, copies of cancelled checks etc.

Answer 5

It sounds like she is doing it to get a refund or so that she doesn't have to pay them. It's not fair to you. You would most likely be getting a refund yourself, sounds like you could use some of that money owed to you. Is she giving you part of the refund she gets?

I would tell her (as a courtesy) that you're filing this year. If she gets upset or refuses to not claim you then you know something fishy is going on, let her deal with the consequences.

Answer 6

File and claim yourself. If you claim yourself and she also claims you, one of you will have the exemption disallowed by the IRS (unless they let it slip through).

From what you say, you would prevail and your mother would be assessed the additional tax. If she has claimed head of household, that filing status might be lost also.

Answer 7

tell her you are claiming yourself this year and if she claims you she will be paying back the money this year!

Answer 8

Turn her in to the IRS