Re: Accused of Fraud and Identity Theft After Claiming Somebody Else's Child on My Ta
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llworking
Honestly, what you probably should have done (back when dad first beat him and kicked him out) was to call the police and let the police get child services involved. However, you did not do that so its a moot point now.
It would be very difficult at this point for the father to attempt to claim that you kidnapped Josh or were harboring a runaway. Dad knew exactly where the child was for the last 11 months and did nothing about it then, so it would difficult for him to claim anything now.
Well, I probably should have called the police at that time, but at that time, I wasn't the type of person to call the police into another family's internal drama. My views has probably changed since then.
Also, can anyone answer the questions I had in post #6. It's been 5 days, and I do not see a response yet. Thanks
Re: Accused of Fraud and Identity Theft After Claiming Somebody Else's Child on My Ta
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technox
Well, I probably should have called the police at that time, but at that time, I wasn't the type of person to call the police into another family's internal drama. My views has probably changed since then.
Also, can anyone answer the questions I had in post #6. It's been 5 days, and I do not see a response yet. Thanks
I am sorry, but I do not see where your questions were not answered. Can you re ask the specific questions you had?
Re: Accused of Fraud and Identity Theft After Claiming Somebody Else's Child on My Ta
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technox
(3) The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who were born or died during the year, children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart), and kidnapped children.
(4) The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year. There are exceptions for multiple support agreements, children of divorced or separated parents (or parents who live apart), and kidnapped children.
3.) He should pass as the situation you described would be considered a temporary absence as was explained earlier in the thread, #4 I have a little more trouble understanding how he passes that test but it is something that should be addressed with a tax pro.
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technox
I am not a lawyer, but to me, it doesn't seem like he passed test (3) nor test (4)? Am I correct? The IRS website also stated that one of the exceptions is if the child is "kidnapped." Just to make sure, what I am doing is not considered "kidnapping", correct?
No, based on what you said Josh left willingly and his parents were fine with him leaving. as llworking said if his parents have known where he was for the past year and have not reported anything to the police or attempted to get him back then it would be a tough claim to make now. That being said if tomorrow his dad comes over and demands Josh comes home you need to get the police and Child protective services involved. He is only able to stay with you because his parents are allowing it (quite frankly it seems they don't care where he is). If they demand he comes home and you prevent that from happening then you could end up in legal trouble. That doesn't mean you have to immediately kick him out and let his Dad take him home and beat him, it does mean you need to get CPS and the police involved.
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technox
In addition, I have in my safe a USB of the Josh's bruises, cuts, and blood from his assualt on February 2013. I am just wondering what I should do with it? And is it illegal to not report it?
At this point hold onto it, if dad ever comes to try to take Josh back you should hand it over to the police when you call them. You probably should have made a report and turned them over last year when it happened, but if the parents are OK with him living with you then not making the report may be an OK solution. Unless you are a professional who deals with children (teacher, councilor, etc) you are not legally bound to report it.
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technox
Forgive me if this has already been answered, but did I break any law at all, and if so, which law? And if I did, what are the chances that I would be prosecuted? And what should I do going forward? Everything I have done up to this point was with good intention, and I don't want to get in trouble with the law. I really had no idea the father would claim, according to him, "the devil" as his dependent on his tax return. I thought he wanted nothing to do with him anymore. If I knew, I wouldn't even claimed him to avoid this confrontation. When I saw a crazy nutcase using his religion as a weapon to hurt his kid and deprive him of a future, I just couldn't stand by and do nothing.
I don't see any laws you have broken, you probably are going to be sending money back to the IRS but that looks like the worst of it so far. Going forward as long as Josh's parents don't care that he is staying with you there isn't much risk of legal consequences. If the parents want him to come home and you prevent it then legal issues can arise. If you decide to move before Josh is 18 and he plans to move with you then he needs to let his parents know. If all of a sudden he isn't living next door and his parents come looking then you could have unwanted problems.
As a note, if you can afford it financially you may want to skip claiming Josh next year, even though you may be entitled to that deduction you may be better off avoiding this same confrontation and just flying under the radar until Josh is 18 and he can put his father out of his life for good.