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I took care of my elderly father for about 3 months after he suffered from spinal stenosis and lost the use of both legs. He is walking now after cortisone injections and months of physical therapy. When he first returned home, he was in a wheel chair and couldn't really do anything for himself for most of that time. It was a very difficult time, and I suffered business losses and depression.

The thanks I got from my family, brother and uncle who is CPA and did my father's taxes, was to claimed me as a dependent on my father's tax return for the time I spent caring for my father in his home. Anyone ever hear of such imbecilic people?

The IRS won't give me any information, other than to send in an identity theft form. I guess I need an attorney. Are there any organizations that can help me?

Thank you.....

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Were you a dependent? Have you looked at instuctions for filing a tax return and what it takes to claim someone as a dependent? Did you have income and file your own tax return? This situation as you stated it seems to have nothing to do with identity theft. Perhaps you could explain further so we can understand why you sre upset.
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Talk to the CPA, you must have given him your SS# for the return. Maybe you don't remember doing that.
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Did you file your own tax return last year? If you did, the duplicate SSNs would be flagged and the one declaring you as a dependent would most likely be brought into question. If you qualified under the definition of a dependent and you did not file a separate return, then there may be no problem. It is more complicated now with healthcare tied into the federal taxes. I wondered how that was handled, since you most likely had to have insurance of some type.

Maybe if you will let us know what legal problems this caused someone will have some answers. So much depends on if you filed another return, especially if you received a subsidy for health insurance. If you don't legally qualify as a dependent, the tax return could come back on your brother and father.
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door, please provide more info so you can get more answers! Your user handle makes me sad. :( How did you, or are you, addressing depression? Best wishes.
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I did some research and found out how they would be able to do it. If you made less than $3800 that year. I understand how upsetting this would be. It sounds like you had a very very hard time. I can appreciate how hard it was to care for your Dad and your struggle with what has happened. Especially without your knowledge. You know your situation better than anyone and because this is a family situation I think you will want to sort out what's real what's yours and not yours. Did you earn more than $3800 that year? Was it really only 3 months? If you were caring for your father then they should have been paying you through a family caregiver agreement. What is the family dynamic that would cause such boundary violations? This sound like a very complicated time for you, your father and your family. I also hear a family system that has boundary issues. I might suggest a cooling off period and working with a good counselor to sort through this. It sounds to me like there are old family patterns at work here. Instead of replaying the old dynamic do some personal growth and family systems work I am certain you will recognize old patterns of this type of boundary violations throughout your upbringing. It could be a at root in your depression. You can change the patterns and set new boundaries with your family and this sounds like an awesome opportunity for personal growth. Once you sort through the patterns then address the legality. You will come from a point of strength to sort through it first before reacting emotionally.
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Have you tried going to your local IRS office? You need a copy of your father's tax return from your uncle. Why are you upset? If your father got the benefit, you are not out any money. I think there is more to this story than you are telling us. Right or wrong?
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If someone else claimed you on their tax return you may not claim yourself on your own return. In order to be claimed legally on a person's return, you must have been supported by that person for more than three months (I do not know the length of time but it is in IRS guidance materials on this topic. I speculate it is more than half the year) AND they must have provided more than half your monetary support for the year. Even if your business suffered and you made little money did your father provide over half your monetary support for the year?
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Instead of making a big deal out of this all really needed to do was mail your return in and add a note saying. "I was claimed as a dependent on my father return in error" and you would gotten all you money. It would then be up to the IRS to decide what to do which in 99.9% of the time is nothing. Why do people want to make a big deal out of everything now days. And I am guessing that since you live in his home for more then 6 month and didn't make enough money to make you ineligible to be claimed as a dependent the difference isn't all that great.
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Most probably, you were claimed on your father's tax return was because it saved him more money then it would have saved you. You should explain to your brother how much money you lost by not being able to claim your self and the two of you should go to the uncle and ask for that amount in compensation.

Actually 2 or 3 times that amount might be better for the care you provided for your father. CPAs are very consious of avoiding wrong-doing. Be sure to tell him he wronged you by not paying for your services and stealing your deduction. Tell him next time he can pay for a full-time nurse which would really cost alot.
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Relwood, get off your critical attitude! Dealing with the IRS is terrifying. It is against community standards to tell someone that their problem is "no big deal." In this case, the investigation by the IRS will certainly take two months if not longer.

Doormatno1 - People MAY be right that there will be no great financial impact, but it is a horrible violation of your adult personal autonomy to declare you as a dependent on your father's tax form. It is demeaning that your brother would assume that he had the right to do this without consulting you. It makes one think that he thinks you're a "no account loser," which is not true. It must sting extra hard because of your business failure.
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I just looked it up in IRS Publication 17, which is online. Google it, and use the phrase "Qualifying Relative." You pass the relationship test to be a qualifying relative. The remaining tests are of your gross income, and what percentage of your support your father provided.
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This is from Yahoo Answers. The dollar amounts are out of date, but it agrees with what I was taught.
"Whether you file or not depends upon your income. If your income exceeds the filing requirement amount for your filing status you are REQUIRED to file.

The filing requirement amount if you can be claimed as a dependent is $5,350 for 2007. If you cannot be claimed as a dependent then it's $8,750.

Whether you can be claimed as a dependent or not depends upon the facts at hand. It's NOT something that you can "give your permission" for, the facts speak for themselves. There are 2 ways that she can claim you, as a Qualifying Child or a Qualifying Relative. We'll touch on both below, in that order.

Under the Qualifying Child rule, if you are under age 19 or under age 24 and a full-time student you can be claimed as a dependent if you lived in your parent's home for more than 6 months, excluding temporary absences such as for school AND you did not provide more than half of your own support. You are considered a full time student if you attended school on a full-time schedule (as defined by the school) for any portion of 5 months during the tax year. Hint: Taking one semester off usually won't block your parent from claiming you as a dependent, as long as you attended classes on a full-time schedule for any part of 5 months of the tax year.

Under the Qualifying Relative rule she can claim you regardless of your age or school status if you lived in her home all year (excluding temporary absences for school, medical care or vacations) AND you had less than $3,400 in gross income AND she provided more than half of your total support.

So, review the rules outlined above. ... If she can claim you as a dependent then you are barred from claiming your personal exemption. She does not need your "permission!" ... And if she cannot claim you as a dependent then just claim your personal exemption yourself and let the chips fall where they may. If she claims you and you claim yourself, the IRS will investigate the matter and award the exemption according to the law. The other party will get a bill for the taxes due due to the loss of the exemption claim."
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Wish doormatno1 would come back with more details to the situation. If you lived with your father rent free,have no reportable income and he provided over 50 percent of supporting you, then you can be claimed on his tax return. Being his unpaid caregiver does not exempt him from claiming you. Where you aware of this situation before the taxes were filed?
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You are over 24, I suspect, so you aren't a qualifying child, but you might be a qualifying relative.

You can file your own return as a dependent of another taxpayer, and get a part of the refund you expected.

You can file as NOT a dependent, but you have to file on paper. If it were me, I would include that Identity Theft form, with a comment that you don't want them to send your brother to jail! The investigation will be lengthy.

I always thought that the parent would benefit more from claiming the child, but I did the calculations both ways for one client. The total benefit to the "family" was the same in both cases - whether the parent claimed the child or whether the child filed for himself.
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It's possibly legal for them to claim you, but it is a great show of disrespect. (Is this a typical thing for this brother to do?) On the other hand, since you know you are justified in getting angry, try not to waste any energy getting angry. Your anger only wastes your energy. Save your energy for getting the situation straightened out. Try to assume that he wasn't being malicious, just thoughtless. Best of luck. Do consider blowing some money on a tax service to get this taken care of with the least sweat for you.
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Jim4740, I guess your right because anyone who has critical attitude like yours should be able to spot anyone else that might be just a little critical because someone has the time wine about something so little and so easy to correct. When others have far more important problems then the lose of a few dollars
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I am curious as to how they could have claimed you as your father's dependent. Our son who has been unemployed for 2 yrs now could not be declared as a dependent although we are his only support. He is an adult and although not disabled he has health problems that make it difficult to find new work. When we did our taxes we were told by the tax professional he was not a legitimate dependent. I am just wondering how your relatives validated the dependency and if it some way it was fraudulent on their part. And as an adult with a social security number you would have had to sign the tax statement - unless they also signed the document without your permission. Please let the IRS know so that you won't be held libel. Good Luck! Families can be difficult at times.
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doormatno1 (genius screen name, btw): This is going to be a huge red flag to the IRS and to the comptroller of the filing state(s) since, most likely, you yourself filed an income tax return and claimed yourself as a dependent, of course. You cannot be doubly claimed! What about your state tax return? Which state did you file with? Which state did dad file with?
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I would talk to an CPA. I don't this should be done if you have any income for the year. I don't think 3 months out of 12 constitutes him putting u done as a dependent. Taking care of ur father offsets any money put out on ur food etc. He needs to amend that tax form.
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JoAnn29 is correct on the amedment and so am I on what I wrote to you above, doormatno1.
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AnnyWho0, where did you ever get the idea that a dependent has to sign the tax return? There's not even a place on the forms for that. Unless the original poster is going to file his own tax return he should not bother contacting the IRS again. It's a bit hard to figure out what exactly his complaint about the taxes is anyhow. He hasn't said how he was harmed in regards to taxes. The problem he has more to do with his feelings about his family and not feeling appropriately thanked for the help he gave his father. The tax related complaint is just the issue he feels safer venting about.
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We really didn't get enough information to answer this question. And the OP appears to have left the building.
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AmyWh0 I don't know how old your son is but a couple of years ago one my neighbors was still claiming his 25 year old son and I believe they still are because he can't find work because a learning disability. I don't know if you son lives at home there's does so maybe that's why. I would double check to make sure you didn't get the wrong info.
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