1. A Legal Obligation, Not a Personality Trait
When a tax preparer asks how many months your child lived with you, or whether anyone else could claim your dependent, the questions are not optional — for the preparer or for you. Federal due-diligence rules require paid preparers to ask specific questions, document the answers, and keep the records, before claiming certain credits and filing statuses. A preparer who skips the questions to make intake faster is cutting a legal corner, not doing you a favor.
2. The Three Areas Covered
**Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).** A refundable credit for low- and moderate-income workers — refundable means it can pay out more than was withheld, which is exactly why it attracts both honest confusion and fraud. Preparers must establish income, residency for any children claimed, and that a qualifying relationship exists. **Child Tax Credit and Credit for Other Dependents.** Age (under 17 for the CTC), relationship, residency, support, and a valid SSN all have to be established — and the phase-out ranges mean we also need your full income picture. **Head of household filing status.** The most-misunderstood status: unmarried, paying more than half the cost of the home, with a qualifying person living with you more than half the year. Each element is a question we are required to ask.
3. What We Must Actually Do
The rules require four things: 1. **Ask** the required questions — and ask more when answers look incomplete or inconsistent 2. **Document** your answers and keep them with the return records (generally three years) 3. **File Form 8867** with any return claiming these credits, recording what we asked and concluded 4. **Decline** to claim a credit or status we cannot support — even if you ask us to That last one is the one clients feel. If we tell you we cannot claim something without better records, it is not distrust — it is the rule, and honestly, it protects you: the preparer penalty for skipping due diligence is assessed per return, per failure, and it can exceed the fee we charged. But as we cover in why preparers ask so many questions, the preparer's penalty never pays *your* tax bill.
4. The Questions That Feel Annoying, Decoded
- "How many nights did your child stay with you?" — residency is counted in months and nights, not intentions, especially after a separation - "Did anyone else pay more than half your household costs?" — head of household hinges on it - "Could a former spouse or grandparent claim this child?" — only one return can claim each child - "Do you have all your income, including apps and cash jobs?" — EITC is computed on *all* earned income; leaving income out can disqualify you in both directions - "Where did this deduction come from?" — documentation supports every number
5. If We Cannot Claim Something
We will tell you exactly what the gap is and what would close it: a school record proving residency, a custody order, a mileage log, a bank statement pattern. Most gaps are fixable with one document. Some claims simply do not qualify, and no preparer who signs your return should paper over that — see How to Check That Your Tax Preparer Is Legitimate for how the honest ones behave. Careful is the product. The questions are how it gets delivered.