Need some tax advice

My wife and I claimed EIC on our taxes last year and I just received a notice from the IRS informing me of the reason for the delay in my refund. Apparently we have to prove that our kids lived with us last year. Now, according to the notice there are four ways I can prove this:

1. School Records
2. Day Care Records
3. Letter from a Church (On Letterhead)
4. Medical Records

Now, two of my kids are not yet of school age and my wife works evenings so we do not put them in daycare and we do not go to a church. So I am now being forced by the US Government to turn over my children's medical records in order to simply prove that they lived with me!

Am I right to be pissed?

Is this not a violation of their civil rights or if nothing else a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality?

What think you?

edit for sp

Black out everything but the dates of treatment.

It sure works nicely when the govt does it.

birth certificates for your two children not attending school. Tell them you don't attend church and the kids haven't been to the doctor because you don't have the money to take them. Well, that's probably not honest, but I agree with you, it seems that it's a violation of doctor-patient confidentiality.

Can you just get a statement from the doctor saying that they are patients of his/hers?

Good luck and let us know the outcome.

copies of birth certs but a copy of my marriage licance as well ALONG with the medical records...

this is why I am PISSED!

1) call the IRS at the number indicated at the top of the letter that they sent you and ask for an extension. Most likely this is a 30 day letter(a letter in which you have only 30 days to respond).

2) find a specialist in tax either an attorney or a CPA to represent you. Tax attorneys in Seattle run around $250/hour and CPA's at about $125-150/hour. DO NOT go the the big firms, try and find a sole practitioner they will be cheaper and may actually care about your situation. I charge $90 since I work out of my home; try and find someone local, maybe a fellow DUer.

3) The IRS isn't interested in your medical records; they are interested in the dates on which your children visited the doctors in order to document the fact that they have lived with you for 12 months. Try and identify any any activities where the dates & the number of people attending can be documented which you and your children attended. e.g. did you go to the movies and buy 2 adult's and 2 children's tickets... did you keep the tickets....

Most likely you forgot to do the EIC checklist when you prepared your tax return...

P.S. this is a part of the "crackdown" on illegal filing for the EIC credit that was announced a few years ago.

You can thank GWB for that...

If they had been in school, then a signed affidavit from the principal might be needed. See link: http://www.law.uconn.edu/clinics/tax/eic/help.html So, item 3) seems like it.

Of course, check with a legal professional, etc.

It seems to me a copy of medical records with the private information redacted will do - like suggested in post #2 ??? Especially they know specifically WHAT the "G" wants. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for "lawyering up" when appropriate.


On the other hand, I'm scared shit-less of the IRS........I was audited a few years ago even though I wasn't deducting anything but my mortgage interest and real-estate taxes. Apparently, my job change to an all commission industry and subsequent temporary drop in income made the IRS wonder HOW I could still make my mortgage payment........all they wanted was copies of mortgage payment checks for 6-12 months. It was an eye-opening AND degrading experience that I never wish to go through again.

For that reason, I pay for audit defense on TurboTax even though I know it's probably a waste of money (knock on wood).

or answer the questions wrong...

LOL

I only want someone to stand in my place at the IRS office. I don't do anything kinky or complicated on my returns. It's just that I really don't care to go through THAT degrading bullshit again. Honestly, considering my opinions of service contracts, insurance, extended warranties, and the like, I wouldn't be surprised if they found some "out" to not honor the claims they make in the brochure........but for $30 bucks? I rolled the dice.

and submit it, ignoring # 4. Make a statement of fact these these children live exclusively with you and your wife and have since birth (or date, if later then birth.) Sign it and date it.

Then wait for the IRS to reply. Usually a well timed reply to an IRS letter on something like this will do the trick. If not, then you can deal with the medical records issues as others have mentioned, by blackening out all of the record except that which identifies the providers, you as parents, the children's home address, and dates of visits. They really aren't asking you to provide anything more confidential and there's no reason to provide it.

When I was self employed I'd get a nasty letter from the IRS every few years because I hadn't crossed a T or dotted an I or because their crack automated system decided I had left off income. Every time I replied with the minimal set of facts that I thought were necessary and they backed off.