I’m in college, and my parents got a letter saying I was claimed as a dependent on someone else’s taxes. It was a CP87A notice. I lost my Social Security card when moving states, so I’m worried someone might have stolen it.
The letter says I don’t need to do anything, but I’m feeling overwhelmed and nervous about this. I already froze my credit, put an alert, and am getting an ID PIN for future taxes. Do I need to worry about anything else with this notice? What might happen long-term? Any advice would really help!
If your parents claimed you as a dependent but it was flagged because someone else claimed you, they may need to file a paper return. One or both of the returns where you’re claimed might get reviewed.
You can file Form 14039 with the IRS to report any issues with your SSN, and they can issue a yearly IP-PIN for your return. This would require any return filed with your SSN to include your unique PIN for it to go through.
Ash said: @Reagan
They didn’t; it’s the same Social Security number.
Not sure what you mean by that … did they file a separate return for you? That’s what needs checking.
Sorry, I’m new to this and might’ve explained it wrong. They said to check if the Social Security number matched one from another dependent’s return. It was the same one.
Ash said: @Reagan
They didn’t; it’s the same Social Security number.
Did you have any income in 2023? If so, you may have filed a return yourself. If so, you should’ve marked that you could be claimed on your parents’ return. This is usually the case if you had a summer job and wanted to get any taxes back.
Could this be what happened? If the box was left unchecked, that would be the problem.