Tax fraud?

Question

A guy and a girl were dating. The girl had a daughter that was not the guys. The guy claimed the daughter as his blood daughter on his taxes. The guy was living w/ the girl at the time of this. He had access to any info. he needed. Guy gave money for the daughter to the girl. She spent it. If she is 17 and he is 20 what will happen to them both? Will it be worse for him or her ? Also the guy signed his check over to his parents to cash... this is in VA state.

Answer 1

Well, first of all yes it's illegal - you already knew that.  Nothing happens to the girlfriend - she didn't do any false filing.  The guy would have to pay back the money he got illegally, plus interest and penalties.  Nobody is going to jail over something like this.

Answer 2

Even if the daughter isn't his blood, if she lives in his household all year and he provides more than half of her total support, he can still legally claim her.  

What he CANNOT claim is the Child Tax Credit or the Earned Income Credit since she is not HIS child.  As long as he's not claiming that, no tax law has been broken.  If he DOES claim either of those, he could be in trouble with the IRS.  At the very least he'll have to pay back any benefit he received from the improper claim, plus any penalties and interest from the due date of the return.  If that included the EIC, he could be barred from claiming the EIC for between 2 and 10 years, depending upon the facts at hand.

The more pressing question given that she is 17 and he is 20 is the potential for a statutory rape charge, especially if her parents decide to press the issue.  The age of consent in VA is 18, with no apparent allowance for close ages or parental consent for the sexual relationship.

Answer 3

Just curious, are you the "real father"?

If the guy is treating the daughter as his own, then it is not tax fraud.

Answer 4

Whose name is on the birth certificate as the father?  In some states, even if the name is wrong, the relationship will be recognized--including child support for all future years.

If he is not named as the father and has no legal liability for the child, then he has a big problem.

1.  He listed the child as his daughter and presumably claimed HOH, child credit and EIC.  The IRS will catch this and will demad that he pay the money back.

2.  He did so fraudulently.  He will be banned from the EIC program for 10 years.