Just Plain Wrong
Tue, Feb 12, 2008
Some of you may have read the post about the Deadbeat Boyfriend, well we figured out the apple does not fall far from the tree. My daughter’s boyfriend filed his taxes the last week of January, both of them have been eagerly awaiting his $375.00 to help pay their rent. “The Boyfriend” just found a job a few days ago, so he is finally working, but she is not so things are very tight at their place. We have been bringing over what food we can and also trying to help out with gas, with the simple reply of “we will give it back when his taxes come in”. We know that they can’t afford to give it back, and we just hope those taxes get to them fast before we too run out of means to help them.
I advised them to go to the library and check the status of their refund, since they did not know when they would actually receive it. Our daughter called me later in the afternoon just crying her eyes out. After claming her down she tells me that his tax return was rejected the day after he filed. Then she proceeds to tell me that his parents claimed him on their taxes, and that is why he can not file! Oh yeah my blood was starting to boil and I was definitely seeing red. Are you kidding me? He is twenty years old and a full time deadbeat not a full time student! Can we say tax fraud….
After a long rant session and trying to weed through the garbage there is nothing that they can do about it at this point. “The parents” filed their taxes the day before the boyfriend so his was rejected not THIERS! 
Oh did I mention that “the parents” received a rapid refund so there is no money left to give the “kids”. By the way H&R Block did “the parents” taxes and they were well aware that the boyfriend was not a full time student, but allowed them to claim him anyway. “The parents” did not even have the decency to tell their son that they claimed him, so he will not be getting his refund, they let him just sit and wait.
H&R block has offered to do our daughter’s boyfriend’s taxes for free, image that. They stated that “the parents” will have to amend their return and after that is accepted then he can file. They are saying approximately end of April beginning of May before they get his refund, providing “the parents” have the means to pay back the amount they were overpaid by the IRS.
As I sit here trying to comprehend how a parent can take from their child, I find myself in horror that our daughter is considering marring into that family.
anonymous says:
Feb. 12, 2008
a parent CAN claim him if he was not working and pay more than half of his living cost. check it out. there can claim him till the age of 24 or he moves out. it sound like he just moved out…. not long ago. why did you not mention your daughter taxes,,,,
Chad & Stacey says:
Feb. 12, 2008
He has not lived with his parents since April and he made a little over $8000 this year, which is not much, but enough to file as Single and receive a refund. They can only claim him up to age 24 if he is a full time student, which he is not. As far as our daughter, she just graduated last June and worked part time the rest of the year. She moved out in August and we did claim her on our taxes, BUT we talked it over with her, informed her and as soon as we received our refund we gave her the total amount of her federal withholding, which was a little over a hundred dollars.
The point was that these parents did not even talk to their son about what they were doing. They let him file his taxes, and wait for two weeks to find out that he would not get a refund. FYI…they did not include his income on their taxes
Qualifying Child According to the IRS:
1. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled.
SouthernbytheGraceofGod says:
Feb. 19, 2008
Well, the two above commenters are correct according to tax law. What’s not correct is the parental ethics. Do they OWE it to their son to let him know that they claimed him? Probably not, but…they are parents (of sorts I suppose) Seems they have communication issues, or maybe they didn’t think it was any of his business, he had been living off their dime.
I don’t know that I ever had a conversation with my son about his tax status exactly. But since I was a Financial Controller (aka glorified accountant), I think that the message was always evident. “When you’re earning money and on your own, boy, you’re filing your own taxes!”
Sorry your daughter is caught up in this mess. Its easy enough to cure though. Good luck to her.
Chad & Stacey says:
Feb. 19, 2008
Thank you SouthernbytheGraceofGod, you hit the nail on the head it is about the terrible “parental ethics”. A quick update, “the parents” did amend their taxes and they did borrow “the boyfriend” his tax refund, although they made him sign a contract to pay it back. I guess they at least stepped forward to do something. Maybe they read this and had a change of heart.
Dru says:
Feb. 20, 2008
When I was going though my Divorce me and my kids were having a hard time getting back on our feet at first. My mother and step father were great. They let me and the kids move in until I could get a place of our own. I quickly found a new job and was paying them $950/month to help out with extra expenses and $400/month for my mom watching the kids while I was at work.
I moved out once I had enough for first month and security deposit for a place. That year my step father tried to claim me and my kids on his taxes. He said he provided more than 50% of our care for the whole year. I was 30 at the time.
Greed is a little to common in the world today.