Tax fraud?
Mar. 3rd, 2009 01:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mutedtempestI received a very suspicious email from my financial aid advisor today. Apparently, someone has claimed me as a dependent on their tax return, which means that I am not qualified to be an independent student and therefore am going to have some of my grants canceled.
Now, I don't really understand this. I'm 26 years old and the age to be considered an independent is 24. Whoever claimed me on their taxes is stating that over half my support comes from them, which is completely and utterly false. I'd honestly love it if someone were paying half my expenses, but nobody is, hence me being incredibly poor and subsisting on student aid and meager earnings from part time jobs.
I am told that my medical expenses cannot be considered as an expense for my student aid (qualifying me for more money) since I have been claimed on someone else's taxes. This means that 2 of my grants are going to be canceled and must be paid back immediately.
Now, I have NO clue as to what is going on. Hopefully my financial aid advisor has made a mistake, perhaps getting the wrong person. If not, my parents are claiming me, which is pure unadulterated bullshit. They kicked me out and have had no contact with me aside from the sporadic phone call (usually initiated by me) for over 8 years now. They do not support me in ANY way. I know they claimed me on their return for 2 years after I left the house, but if they're STILL doing it, I feel that that's very similar to tax fraud. If they are in fact doing this, they're receiving money based on the claim that they are providing half my support or better, when in fact they are not doing shit for me.
I'm not sure exactly what my options are. However, I've been reading up on the requirements for claiming someone, and can easily have multiple people verify that my parents are not supporting me in any way whatsoever and have not been doing so for nearly a decade now.
Sigh. I'm just really hoping my financial aid advisor messed up somehow.
Now, I don't really understand this. I'm 26 years old and the age to be considered an independent is 24. Whoever claimed me on their taxes is stating that over half my support comes from them, which is completely and utterly false. I'd honestly love it if someone were paying half my expenses, but nobody is, hence me being incredibly poor and subsisting on student aid and meager earnings from part time jobs.
I am told that my medical expenses cannot be considered as an expense for my student aid (qualifying me for more money) since I have been claimed on someone else's taxes. This means that 2 of my grants are going to be canceled and must be paid back immediately.
Now, I have NO clue as to what is going on. Hopefully my financial aid advisor has made a mistake, perhaps getting the wrong person. If not, my parents are claiming me, which is pure unadulterated bullshit. They kicked me out and have had no contact with me aside from the sporadic phone call (usually initiated by me) for over 8 years now. They do not support me in ANY way. I know they claimed me on their return for 2 years after I left the house, but if they're STILL doing it, I feel that that's very similar to tax fraud. If they are in fact doing this, they're receiving money based on the claim that they are providing half my support or better, when in fact they are not doing shit for me.
I'm not sure exactly what my options are. However, I've been reading up on the requirements for claiming someone, and can easily have multiple people verify that my parents are not supporting me in any way whatsoever and have not been doing so for nearly a decade now.
Sigh. I'm just really hoping my financial aid advisor messed up somehow.