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“Bonnie” is a mother of two minor children and a domestic violence survivor. Even though she has custody of the children, her ex-husband was wrongfully claiming one of her two children on his tax returns. This caused significant issues for Bonnie when she came to file her own taxes.
Bonnnie tried to e-file her 2022 return, but the IRS rejected the e-filing because her ex already claimed one of her two children on his return. So that her return could be e-filed, she ended up claiming just one child on it instead of two. She later mailed the IRS an amended return, so both children were claimed, expecting a couple thousand more in tax refund, but the IRS only sent her $27. The following year, Bonnie’s 2023 return e-filing was rejected just like it was the previous year. This time, she reached out to us and our Low Income Tax Clinic attorney agreed to represent her in dealing with the IRS.
Our tax attorney helped Bonnie gather everything she needed to prove her claim to child-related tax benefits for both her children. Then he mailed the IRS her 2023 tax return along with a letter detailing how she met the requirements to claim both her children. For the 2022 tax return, our tax attorney found that the IRS had missed a child-related benefit Bonnie was entitled to, so he prepared an amended return and mailed it to the IRS with proof supporting the child-related benefit. Altogether we were able to secure for Bonnie almost $9,000 that she was rightfully owed – a huge win for someone on a very low income looking after two children!
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