I let my common law husband claim my daughter on his taxes and he was audited. Can i amend mine and claim her?

Question

The IRS is saying he owes $3700. Since i didn't claim her, I think now that they disqualified him, I should be able to get the tax credit.

Answer 1

If you agreed , you can't change your mind now. He claims her one year, you do the next.

Answer 2

First of all, is he really your common law husband legally?  That takes more than just living together for a period of time, and doesn't even exist in most states.  Check your state law.

If you do have a legal common law marriage then you should have filed as married (either joint or separately), not as single or as head of household.

If you are not common law married, and his claim was disallowed, yes you can file an amended return and claim her, assuming you meet all the rules to claim her.

If you are not legally married, and a common law marriage IS legally married, then you are the one with the right to claim her.  You could allow her biological dad to claim her, but not anyone else.

Answer 3

Your question can not be properly addressed without knowing what the legal status of your marriage is.  "Common Law" marriage is recognized in several states.  If your marriage was established in one of those states it is as legal as any other marriage.  If that is not the case there is no marriage.  If the child lived in the same home as you and this man he would not be able to claim her as a dependent.  You may be able to do so but there are other issues involved before you attempt that.  You should go see a tax professional before you get both you and your "husband" in more difficulty than has already occurred.

Answer 4

If this is truly your common law husband, why didn't you just file a joint return??

The fact that he owes $3,700 doesn't mean that the IRS disallowed the exemption claim.  Without seeing the letter(s) from the IRS it's impossible to say what that's all about.

Answer 5

If I understand you correctly, you are not legally married to this person who claimed your child, correct?  If so, then "yes", he can not claim your child (assuming you lived with your child for at least 6 months).  Now that the IRS "fixed" his tax return, you can amend your tax return and put your child on it.  This is perfectly legal.  If you had someone do your taxes, go back to them and have them add your daughter.  While you are there, you can yell at them for putting your daughter on your boyfriends tax return...because any tax person who took even the most basic of classes knows that since 2005, this is illegal.  If a child lives with any biological parent (or uncle/aunt or grandparent) for at least 6 months, then anyone not related to the child can not claim them.  More specifically, if a child can be someones Qualifying Child, then they can not be a Qualifying Relative.  Maybe your tax person will do the amended return for free since they screwed up your boyfriends return so badly.  If you told them that you were married, they should have insisted you did a joint return.  If you told them you were not married, they should have asked whether the man was the biological father of the child.  If you said, "no", they should have never let him claim your child.