Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility?

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Subject Author Date Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility? Dan Delgado 09-08-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Stuart A. Bronstein 09-08-2009   Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibilit... Steve Pope 09-08-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Mark Bole 09-08-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Gene E. Utterback, EA, RF... 09-10-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Stuart A. Bronstein 09-10-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... D. Stussy 09-11-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Paulo Joe Jingy 09-10-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Seth 09-11-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... paulthomascpa 09-08-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... Wallace 09-08-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... John Levine 09-09-2009  Re: Tax Return for Insurance Dependent Eligibility... HLunsford 09-08-2009
Posted by Dan Delgado on September 8, 2009, 2:42 pm Please log in for more thread options I apologize if this is too far off-topic. My employer (about 5000 employees) hired ADP to verify eligibility of dependents for insurance. It looks like it's mostly spouses that they're concerned with. To do this, they are demanding that we send in a copy of our current (in some cases past years, for several years) tax returns. Is this even a legitimate use of tax returns? I thought this information was confidential for some reason. The idea of someone sifting through my personal information and finances to establish that my wife is really my wife seems (at best) like overkill to me. Thanks for your thoughts on this. -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Stuart A. Bronstein on September 8, 2009, 3:00 pm Please log in for more thread options > My employer (about 5000 employees) hired ADP to verify > eligibility of dependents for insurance. It looks like it's > mostly spouses that they're concerned with. To do this, they > are demanding that we send in a copy of our current (in some > cases past years, for several years) tax returns. > > Is this even a legitimate use of tax returns? I thought this > information was confidential for some reason. The idea of > someone sifting through my personal information and finances to > establish that my wife is really my wife seems (at best) like > overkill to me. Send them a copy of your marriage license. Tax returns are priviledged or confidential to an extent. But I don't know if that would apply in this situation. However I am unaware of any legitimate reason they would need to see your tax return. -- Stu http://downtoearthlawyer.com -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Steve Pope on September 8, 2009, 3:13 pm Please log in for more thread options >> My employer (about 5000 employees) hired ADP to verify >> eligibility of dependents for insurance. It looks like it's >> mostly spouses that they're concerned with. To do this, they >> are demanding that we send in a copy of our current (in some >> cases past years, for several years) tax returns. >> Is this even a legitimate use of tax returns? I thought this >> information was confidential for some reason. The idea of >> someone sifting through my personal information and finances to >> establish that my wife is really my wife seems (at best) like >> overkill to me. >Send them a copy of your marriage license. >Tax returns are priviledged or confidential to an extent. But I >don't know if that would apply in this situation. However I am >unaware of any legitimate reason they would need to see your tax >return. Perhaps this is a backdoor way of trying to learn if the spouse has an employer, and therefore possibly has insurance. Steve -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Mark Bole on September 8, 2009, 7:38 pm Please log in for more thread options Steve Pope wrote: >>> Is this even a legitimate use of tax returns? Not really, but if they ask for it and you provide it, then you've given up any privacy in that regard. > >> Send them a copy of your marriage license. They want that, too. Funny thing, even divorced people can produce a marriage certificate, having one doesn't prove it's currently in effect. >> Tax returns are priviledged or confidential to an extent. But I >> don't know if that would apply in this situation. However I am >> unaware of any legitimate reason they would need to see your tax >> return. > > Perhaps this is a backdoor way of trying to learn > if the spouse has an employer, and therefore possibly has > insurance. No, because nowhere on the front of the return would it indicate which spouse had which sources of income, and the income numbers will be blacked out anyway. I too have seen this request, other employee benefit TPA's (3rd party administrators) are asking for the same things. It's patently ridiculous. First of all, it's quite possible one hasn't filed 2008 yet, so they do allow for a prior year return -- yet neither 2007 nor 2008 have *anything* to do with whether a spouse or dependent is an eligible insured in 2009 and going forward. And perhaps the insured is delinquent with filing for several years -- is being current on taxes now suddenly a requirement for employer-sponsored insurance? (well, that actually makes some sense, given all the tax breaks involved). Second, there is no way to my knowledge to verify that what is turned in was actually filed, and not just a made-up-and-filled-in PDF file, especially since they don't want income, SSN's, or signatures -- just the 1040 page 1 header. -Mark Bole -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Posted by Gene E. Utterback, EA, RFC, AB on September 10, 2009, 6:52 pm Please log in for more thread options > >> My employer (about 5000 employees) hired ADP to verify >> eligibility of dependents for insurance. It looks like it's >> mostly spouses that they're concerned with. To do this, they >> are demanding that we send in a copy of our current (in some >> cases past years, for several years) tax returns. >> >> Is this even a legitimate use of tax returns? I thought this >> information was confidential for some reason. The idea of >> someone sifting through my personal information and finances to >> establish that my wife is really my wife seems (at best) like >> overkill to me. > > Send them a copy of your marriage license. > > Tax returns are priviledged or confidential to an extent. But I > don't know if that would apply in this situation. However I am > unaware of any legitimate reason they would need to see your tax > return. > > -- > Stu > http://downtoearthlawyer.com I'm starting to get questions like this from clients too. I actually called one employer and asked about it and they said "the marriage only shows that your married NOT that the spouse, or anyone else, is your DEPENDENT. The insurance we offer is for DEPENDENTS." I didn't like this but there was nothing I could do about it. I fear the employer has the right to ask and the employee has the right to refuse, but refusal may result in no insurance. I even offered to write a letter for my client stating that the returns were filed as married joint and that the three children in question were actually claimed as dependents - NO DICE! Gene E. Utterback, EA, RFC, ABA -- << ------------------------------------------------------- >> << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >> << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >> << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >> << >> << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >> << to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >> << are at www.asktax.org. >> << Copyright (2007) - All rights reserved. >> << ------------------------------------------------------- >> Similar Threads Posted Eligibility for dependent care FSA ? December 11, 2008, 3:48 pm Economic Stimulus Eligibility for individuals claimed as dependent June 4, 2008, 3:45 pm K1 and W2 - SEP IRA Eligibility? June 18, 2007, 9:27 am K1 and W2 - SEP IRA Eligibility? June 19, 2007, 9:30 pm K1 and W2 - SEP IRA Eligibility? 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