Candice S Dubois

05/05

21-11

On August 4, 2020, the Department issued a return adjustment notice to the Taxpayer reducing the personal income tax refund for 2019. On August 12, 2020, the Taxpayer filed a timely written protest of the adjustment notice. The Department denied the claim by the Taxpayer of her grandchildren as her dependents. The Taxpayer testified that the grandchildren started living with her in 2017 and since that time she had been providing for their care. In order to claim the children as dependents the Taxpayer needed to support, among other requirements, that the children were living at her residence for more than half the year, were under the age of 19 in the taxable year, and did not provide more than half of their own support for the taxable year. The Taxpayer was able to do this by providing evidence, including four notarized statements from employees of the charter school the grandchildren attend. The Hearing Officer found that this evidence was sufficient to prove that she was entitled to claim her grandchildren as dependents for an exemption on her net income. This having been decided, the Hearing Officer granted the protest and ordered that the Department issue the additional amount of refund to the Taxpayer.