Never received a stimulus check because of a mistake on my taxes...HELP!?

Question

It has come to my attention that when I filed my taxes, I put down that I was being claimed by my parents as a dependent, which they told me they were going to do. Sent my paperwork in a received my tax return. Unfortunately, my parents did not claim me in their taxes, which resulted in me not receiving a stimulus check, which my younger brother and sister did get. Any suggestions on how I can get it? What should I do?

Answer 1

First of all, if your parents COULD have claimed you, whether they did or not, then you aren't allowed to claim yourself, and are not eligible for a stimulus check.

But in any case, even if they were not eligible to claim you, if you didn't claim yourself on your original return, filing an amendment claiming yourself won't get you a stimulus payment, that's calculated on your original return, not an amendment.  So there's nothing you can do now to get the payment.

If you make enough next year to owe any federal income tax, then you might benefit from the stimulus law through getting a tax cut on your 2008 return, the one you'll file in 2009.

Answer 2

Something somewhat similar actually happened to me.  We used an incorrect social security number when claiming our daughter as a dependent.  We were able to go back and correct this for our tax return but we didn't receive our gull stimulus payment.   I was told by the IRS that the stimulus payments are based on the ORIGINAL income tax return that you file....whether it is correct or not.  I was told, and I have also verified on www.irs.gov, that about the only thing you can do is wait until next year and file for a Recovery Rebate Credit on your 2009 return.  Here is the info from the IRS website:  

Q. Will filing an amended return affect my stimulus payment?

A. In most cases, an amended return will not affect the stimulus payment. While amended returns will be processed to correct the income, deductions and income tax as appropriate, the economic stimulus payment amount will not be adjusted based on an amended return. The reason for this is that the reconciliation provision within the Stimulus Act gives taxpayers an opportunity to claim and receive any underpayment amount as a Recovery  Rebate Credit when they file their 2008 return next year.

In very limited circumstances, amended returns that are filed solely to include previously unreported qualifying income may result in the issuance of a stimulus payment that was not issued based upon a taxpayer's original return. However, these circumstances are generally limited to low-income individuals and recipients of Social Security, some railroad retirement or certain veteran's benefits who filed their original returns prior to the IRS issuing guidance for their situation.

An amended return can result in a delayed stimulus payment if the amended return is received before the stimulus payment is issued. In this situation the stimulus payment will be issued, if applicable, once the amended return has been processed. Due to the high volume of amended returns received, please allow 12-16 weeks for the IRS to process your amended return before making any inquiries about your  return and stimulus payment.

Answer 3

I would condsult a CPA to be certain, but I guess you would file an amended return.

http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw33.html  

Answer 4

If you did not claim your personal exemption, you will be ineligible for the rebate, but you may still benefit under the plan.

While the rebate depends on your 2007 status and income, it is actually a rebate toward your 2008 taxes. According to the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, taxes would be cut in 2008 from 10 percent to zero percent on the first $6,000 dollars of taxable income for individual taxpayers.

So if you have taxable income in 2008, you will see a tax cut when you file in 2009 instead of getting a rebate in 2008.

Answer 5

If you are under 19 or under 24 and a full time student, unless you supported yourself, you WERE a dependent.  And if this was the case, you couldn't claim yourself even if your parents didn't.

If you are correct that you were not a dependent, then file the amended return.  Your income's being over $5350 means you would have paid too much in income tax and would get a small refund now.

You will have to wait for the 2nd chance worksheet on the 2008 tax return for your shot at the rebate.