My daughter's mother gave our kids SSN to one of her friends so she could claim my daughter and they could split the money. The problem with their grandiose scheme is that I had my daughter the whole time and can prove it. They clearly broke the law, but I want to know if I can have them both arrested for it? And if so, how much time can they get? I want them to pay dearly, so any advice on how to really stick it to them would be appreciated.
p.s... I'm not normally a vindictive person, but my daughters mom has not helped out financially AT ALL for the last 2 years, and she's a serious drug addict, so I'm sure she spent that tax money on drugs. I want her to suffer for being so selfish and brazen. Sorry for the negativity... =/

I have found (years of office management including taxes) that the IRS takes on average 3 years to catch such things, but they do.
Calling the cops on a tax cheat won't get you anywhere.
You might be able to speed up the IRS by notifying them, but I would wait until the April rush is over.

Were you going to claim the daughter as a dependent? If so, file make sure you are able to support your deduction. The system will kick out the returns because of multiple deductions with the same SSN. As Joy sadi, it takes them a couple of years to get things processed and analyzed.

Thanks guys, it sucks that justice takes so long, but I guess I will have to hang in there.

Also, its unlikely they will be jailed. What will most likely happen is the return will be recalculated and they will have pay back the refund with interest and penalties.

Here is the thing. Its not up to you to do anything other then what you would normally do. The choice to prosecute isn't yours. File as you normally would. Take the deduction that is owed to you. Make sure you prove the guidelines. And then its out of your hands.

My daughter's mother gave our kids SSN to one of her friends so she could claim my daughter and they could split the money. ...

Were do criminals like this come up with such hare-brained schemes? The friend is going to need more documentation than a SSN to make this scheme work.

I think they have been putting stupid juice in the water supply lately.

And how did you find out about it? Without a lot of proof of criminal intent on your ex's part, the Government is not likely to be able to get a conviction.

And how did you find out about it? Without a lot of proof of criminal intent on your ex's part, the Government is not likely to be able to get a conviction.

Probably because he tried to e-file claiming his child.

It would be one thing for the mother to claim the child herself. But to allow a non relative to claim the child seems to me clearly criminal intent.

If you have the legal right to claim your child, then you may still do so by filing a paper return and including your documentation.

They will then ask for the money back with penalty and interest. That is about all that is going to happen