Will my friend get in trouble with CalWORKs for falsely claiming child as dependent on taxes?

Your friend made a pretty serious mistake. When someone claims a child on taxes as head of household, they're certifying that the child lived with them for more than half the year. Since he admitted to the eligibility worker that the child doesn't live with him, there are several potential issues: 1. Tax fraud - The IRS could audit him and demand repayment of any tax benefits he received illegitimately (Earned Income Credit, Child Tax Credit, etc.) plus penalties 2. County coordination - While different departments don't always talk to each other, many counties have fraud investigation units that can and do cross-reference information 3. CalWORKs impact - The mother should be fine as long as she correctly reported who lives in her household. The county already knows the child lives with her if she's receiving benefits Your friend should talk to a tax professional immediately about filing an amended return. The sooner he corrects this, the less severe any penalties might be.

they cant just automaticly tell the IRS stuff. diffrent agencies dont talk to eachother that much. i filed wrong one year and nuthing happened. but its still tax fraud technicly.

This is unfortunately a common situation. Tax filing status and welfare eligibility use different rules, but the information can definitely be shared between agencies, especially if fraud is suspected. For your friend, here's what could happen: 1. The CalFresh worker may have just noted the discrepancy in his case file without immediate action. However, if they suspect intentional fraud, they can refer it to their Investigation unit. 2. The mother's CalWORKs case shouldn't be affected if she's correctly reported household members. The county already knows the child support situation. 3. The real issue is with the IRS. Head of household status requires the child live with you for more than half the year. Since he admitted to a government worker that this wasn't true, there's a documented contradiction. Your friend should consider filing an amended tax return (1040X) ASAP. If he waits until the IRS catches it, he'll face bigger penalties and possible criminal charges if they think it was intentional. I went through something similar with a client who couldn't reach anyone at IRS for guidance. She used Claimyr.com to get through to a live person at the IRS without hours of hold time. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/jzISHxCPLwE showing how it works. Might be useful for your friend too when trying to fix this situation.

my sister in law did somthing like this and they made her pay back EVERYTHING plus interest AND she couldnt get benefits for 1 whole year!!!! tell ur friend to fix this fast!!!

To answer your question about repayment - he would likely need to repay the difference between what he legitimately should have received filing single vs. what he received filing as head of household with a dependent. This includes: - The difference in tax rates between single and HOH filing status - Any Child Tax Credit he received (up to $2,000 per qualifying child in 2024) - Any Earned Income Tax Credit attributable to having a qualifying child - Possibly other credits he wasn't eligible for Plus potential penalties and interest. The sooner he corrects this with an amended return, the better position he'll be in. If he waits for the IRS to catch it (which they likely will given that he's already admitted to a government worker the child doesn't live with him), the penalties will be much more severe.

I HATE how the system is set up! Your friend is probably struggling financially (why else would he need CalFresh?) yet the government makes it impossible to get ahead. He pays child support AND can't even get the tax benefits? Meanwhile the mom gets all the benefits - CalWORKs cash, free medical, AND gets to claim the kid on taxes?!?! The system is designed to KEEP people poor!!! I'm not saying what he did was right but I understand why someone would do it when they're desperate.

wait i'm confused tho... if the mom gets CalWORKs cash aid for the child, does that mean she already claimed the kid on HER taxes? cuz you can't double claim the same dependent, right? so maybe the IRS will catch this automatically when they see the same kid claimed twice?

Update: I showed my friend all these responses and he's calling a tax preparation place tomorrow to file an amended return. He says he's going to say it was a mistake and he misunderstood the rules rather than admitting he knew what he was doing. He's worried about criminal charges but it sounds like if he fixes it voluntarily that's less likely to happen. Thanks everyone for the advice!

Good to hear your friend is taking action! Just wanted to add - when he goes to the tax prep place, he should be completely honest with them about the situation. Tax preparers are bound by confidentiality and they've seen this before. They'll need to know the full story to properly amend the return and calculate what he owes. Also, he should keep records of everything - the amended return, any payments made, correspondence with the IRS, etc. If the CalFresh office or any other agency asks about it later, having documentation that he proactively corrected the error will work in his favor. One more thing - if he can't afford to pay back the full amount right away, the IRS does offer payment plans. It's better to set up a payment plan than to ignore the debt.

As someone who's worked with families in similar situations, I want to emphasize how important it is that your friend is taking this seriously now. The fact that he admitted the truth to the CalFresh eligibility worker actually puts him in a vulnerable position - that statement is now documented in his case file. A few additional things to consider: 1. When he files the amended return, he should also be prepared for potential questions about WHY he originally filed incorrectly. Having a consistent explanation ready is important. 2. The CalFresh office may follow up on this discrepancy even if they approved his benefits initially. They sometimes conduct post-eligibility reviews, especially when fraud indicators are present. 3. Since he's paying child support through county enforcement, there's already a paper trail showing he's the non-custodial parent. This makes his original tax filing even more questionable from an investigative standpoint. The good news is that voluntary correction usually results in much better outcomes than waiting to be caught. He's doing the right thing by addressing this immediately. Make sure he keeps copies of everything and considers getting legal advice if the situation becomes more complicated.