This is for 2009 taxes. They wouldn't let me post under 2009 so i posted here.

I efiled my taxes for 2009 last year. I got it bounced back to me saying that since my ex claimed my child already, i couldn't claim her.

I was going to refile after court since it was my year to claim her. And with all the credits it would have been upwards of $4000.

Long story short, I got involved in a long court battle over custody and it totally knocked the wind out of my sails. I got depressed and didn't care about refiling. The last thing on my mind was more paperwork.

Since the taxes never got brought up in court, since there was much more important issues to deal with, I am not going to pursue claiming her as a dependant. Maybe try to do EIC and dependant care since I spent over $12k on daycare.

But here is my question. i technically filed by the due date. Even if i don't claim my kid on the taxes, the government would have owed me over $1000 and the state $160 according to Turbo Tax. Like i said, i filed but it got kicked back to me in email (I used the official e-file system, not turbo taxes). I never refiled and low and behold it's a year later and 2010 taxes are due this week.

I would have taken care of this a year ago, but I was depressed and didn't care.

Is it too late to file for 2009? I'm not worried about penalties because I am pretty sure I won't get fined for being late since they owed me money. Can i still file 2009 and get a refund from the state and irs? Or is tat money lost forever and I'm boned.

Thanks for your time