IRS CP87A - Duplicate Dependent Claim: What To Do Now

A CP87A means another taxpayer filed a return claiming the same dependent or qualifying child — the same Social Security number — that you claimed. The IRS lists the last four digits of the SSN in question. Disclosure law bars the IRS from naming the other filer, and neither claim is disallowed yet: the notice asks you to check whether you were entitled to the dependent.

Do this, in order

1. Match the last-four SSN digits on the notice to your dependents — confirm exactly whose claim is duplicated
2. Work out who was actually entitled under the dependent tie-breaker rules: residency, relationship, and support — not who filed first
3. If the other filer was entitled, file Form 1040-X promptly to remove the dependent and stop penalties and interest from growing
4. If you were entitled, assemble your proof now — school and medical records, lease, birth certificate — because a follow-up exam may demand the Form 886-H-DEP package
5. File carefully next year: a second electronic return claiming the same SSN rejects outright, forcing a paper filing and months of delay

Straight answers

Will the IRS tell me who else claimed my dependent?

No. Federal disclosure law prohibits the IRS from revealing the other filer's identity. The notice gives you the last four digits of the dependent's SSN so you can identify whose claim is duplicated — the rest is up to the tie-breaker rules, not detective work.

Do I need to do anything if I know I was entitled?

If you were entitled, the notice itself requires no payment — but keep your proof organized. Duplicate-claim cases often lead to a correspondence exam where the IRS asks both filers for documentation (the Form 886-H-DEP package: school and medical records, lease, birth certificate). The filer with the records wins.

What if divorced parents both claimed the child?

Entitlement follows the §152 tie-breaker rules, not filing order: generally the custodial parent — the one the child lived with for the longer part of the year — unless that parent signed Form 8332 releasing the claim to the noncustodial parent. A divorce decree alone does not control the IRS result; the signed Form 8332 does.

Where this sits in the machine

This notice belongs to the examination stage of the IRS process. Understanding the stage matters more than the single letter — read IRS Examination: The Mechanics of Defense for the map, and the IRS notice page for CP87A (irs.gov).

What representation changes

Representation means the examiner talks to your representative, not to you. With a signed Form 2848, an Enrolled Agent receives the information document requests, controls what goes back, and keeps the examination inside its stated scope.