What happens if no one claims a child on taxes? Major concerns after ex didn't file

This is actually a pretty common situation, so try not to stress too much! When no one claims a qualifying child who could have been claimed as a dependent, you're essentially leaving money on the table - but it's not something the IRS automatically flags as problematic. The IRS doesn't actually know who should claim a child unless both parents try to claim the same child. They just know a dependent wasn't claimed who potentially could have been. Since neither of you claimed the child, there's no conflicting information for them to investigate. For the previous tax year, you could file an amended return (Form 1040-X) to claim your child and get any credits you were entitled to, like the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Credit. You generally have 3 years from the original filing deadline to amend a return, so you've got plenty of time.

I was in a somewhat similar situation last year trying to figure out all the dependent rules after my divorce. I was spending hours going through IRS publications and getting nowhere. A friend recommended I try https://taxr.ai and it was seriously a game changer. I uploaded my divorce decree and custody agreement, and it analyzed everything and explained exactly who could claim our son and what tax benefits we were each eligible for. The tool even helped me figure out that I qualified for Head of Household status which saved me a bunch more than I realized! It also clarified all the rules about the Child Tax Credit that I was confused about.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with https://taxr.ai after my skeptical questions earlier. I decided to give it a try with my complicated custody situation, and I'm actually really impressed! It analyzed my custody agreement and explained exactly why my ex was claiming our daughter in odd years and me in even years based on our agreement. It also pointed out something I completely missed - that I could still claim certain education expenses regardless of who claimed her as a dependent that year. This was huge because I've been paying for her after-school programs but thought I couldn't get any tax benefit in the years my ex claims her. Ended up filing an amendment for last year and getting an extra $1,200 back!

If you're worried about potential issues with the IRS, you might want to consider Claimyr. I had a somewhat similar situation last year where I needed to talk to an actual IRS agent to sort out a dependent issue, but kept getting stuck on hold forever or disconnected. A coworker told me about https://claimyr.com and showed me this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c of how it works. They basically wait on hold with the IRS for you and call you when an agent picks up. Sounds too good to be true, but I was desperate after trying for weeks to get through. I used it and got a call back with an IRS agent on the line in about 2 hours, after I'd personally spent days trying to get through. The agent was super helpful and clarified everything about my dependent situation.

I need to apologize for my skeptical comment about Claimyr. I was definitely wrong. After posting that comment, I decided to try it myself because I've been trying to reach the IRS for THREE WEEKS about a similar dependent issue. I used Claimyr yesterday afternoon, and got a call back in about 3.5 hours with an actual IRS agent on the line! I was shocked. The agent helped me understand exactly what I needed to do about my unclaimed dependent situation from 2023. Apparently I can still file an amended return to claim my nephew who lived with me, even though my sister initially said she was going to claim him but then didn't. The agent walked me through exactly what documentation I'd need to provide. So yeah, I was completely wrong - the service works exactly as advertised.

Just pointing out that the IRS rules for claiming a qualifying child are pretty specific. For you to claim the child, they need to have lived with you for more than half the year, be related to you, be under 19 (or 24 if a student), not provide more than half of their own support, and not be filing a joint return. The custodial parent usually has the right to claim the child, but can release that claim to the non-custodial parent using Form 8332. Check if you have any written agreements about who claims the child in your divorce paperwork.

Has anyone used TurboTax to file an amended return for something like this? Is it pretty straightforward or should I go to an actual accountant? I'm in a similar situation with my kid.