Discussion:Head of household
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Discussion Forum Index --> Tax Questions --> Head of household
| 30 January 2006 | |
| i have a new client this year. she is unmarried. her unmarried son, who is age 27 and earns around 20,000/yr, lives with her. he is not handicapped or anything of this nature. she feels that she can file as head of household. i say no because her son does not meet the "qualifying" child/relative test because of his age and his earnings. he is NOT a fulltime student. any suggestions on this?
thanks | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| I would agree. She has no qualified child or relative so she can not file Head of Household.
Dusty | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| You are correct. He would be able to meet the qualifying relative test, but for his earnings. | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| Cannot claim HOH. The son is too old to be a qualifying child and earns to much to be a qualifying relative. Where do you see in Pub 17, page 22 that she can? | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| I TEND TO AGREE WITH SKHYATT; THE SON IS OVER 19 AND 24, AND IS NOT A FULLTIME STUDENT. I DON'T BELIEVE HE MEETS THIS AGE TEST TO BE A QUALIFYING CHILD (PAGE 26 OF THIS PUB). | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| I agree with Solomon. H of H without no dependents as soon as She provided more than a half of household cost. At least, it was like that until 2 005.
I will again Pub 17. Orlando | |
DR BRISKET (talk|edits) said: | 30 January 2006 |
| To qualify as head of household, all three of the following requirements must be met:
Taxpayer must be unmarried on the last day of the year. Taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. The "qualifying person" must have lived with the taxpayer more than half the year.
Applying the above rules, assume the actual household expenses were $12,000. The mother would only need to show that she paid more than $6,000 of the household expenses herself. It wouldn't matter if the son earned $$20,000 or $200,000. Now, it should be clarified that the mother would NOT be able to claim her son as a dependent. Thus, she would file as unmarried head of household with zero dependents. Her son's name would only need to be entered on the return as the qualifying person. | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| No HOH possible in 2005; however, HOH would be possible for 2004.
An HOH qualifier must either be a qualifying child as defined in Sec. 152(c) or any other person who is a dependent of the taxpayer (other than an individual who qualifies under the member of the household test). The son is not a qualifying child, and he is not a dependent; consequently, HOH is not allowed. See Sec. 2(b)(1)(A). | |
DR BRISKET (talk|edits) said: | 30 January 2006 |
| Riley,
Thanks for clarification. I had my head in the sand on that one--my mind was still on 2004 rules. Maybe this is because I just finished working up a 2004 return for a client!! Anyway--I goofed. Thanks again! | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| Riley2: So a person who is a "qualifying relative" would not be a qualifying person for HOH? (member of the household test) | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| Does anyone else agree with me that it doesn't seem like they really made things more simple with the new rules? | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| The statute doesn’t really say that qualifying relatives cannot be head of household qualifiers. Instead, the statute provides that a qualifying relative who who qualifies as such solely as a result of being a member of the household for the entire year cannot be a head of household qualifier. Simply put, the head of household qualifier must be related under one of the 7 relationship tests as defined in Sec. 152(d)(2)(A) through 152(d)(2)(G).
In addition, any dependent who is claimed under a multiple support agreement on Form 2120 may not be a head of household qualifier. | |
| 30 January 2006 | |
| I see. In this case though, wouldn't the son be disqualified as a "qualifying relative" anyway, due to having too much income? | |
| 31 January 2006 | |
| That is correct. He is too old to be a qualifiying child unless he is disabled, and his gross income is too high to be a qualifying relative. | |
| 31 January 2006 | |
| SORRY I COME WITH THE WRONG ANSWER
NOW: I AGREE WITH RILEY2 , DUSTY, AND OTHER THAT ANSWER "NO" TO THE H OF HOUSEHOLD STATUS. CHART IN PUB 17- PAGE 22- GIVE ME THE WRONG IDEA. I THINK WE HAVE TO READ BOTH PAGES, 22 AND 25 TO GET THE CORRECT ANSWER. ORLANDO | |
| 28 November 2007 | |
| Qualifying child Must be under the age of 24 at the end of 2006 and a full-time student, or permanently and totally disabled at any time during the year, regardless of age.So she is not qualify for HOH. | |
| 11 March 2008 | |
| BEFORE I GIVE THE WRONG ANSWER, please hear me out.....New Client....legally separated...wife has child, 12, in her home....Husband lives elsewhere....wants to claim child ..... I say:
1.) she can file as HOH, but she cannot claim exemption. 2.) husband can claim Single, and take exemption for child......
DJ | |
| 11 March 2008 | |
| RS:
Why would she not be able to take the exemption? The child lives in her home. Or do they have an agreement that the father will claim the child? Dusty | |
| 11 March 2008 | |
| Are they "legally separated", or have they just filed for divorce? If they have just filed for divorce and the mother and child lived apart from the husband the last 6 months of 2007, I believe the mother can file as HOH with child as dependent and the husband must file as MFS. It might be possible to use an 8332 to release exemption to father, but you'd have to confirm that it can be used if they aren't divorced yet.
If they are in fact "legally separated", which is a rare bird and involves much more than just filing for divorce, she can be HOH if she meets the rules, he can be single and claim child with a properly executed 8332. | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 11 March 2008 |
| DJ: You are in NJ, I think? The Husband cannot be single. Jersey is like most states; there is no legal separation for income tax purposes until the final decree is signed. I believe the wife can release the dependency for this year with an 8332...the form is applicable to separated parents. She can be HOH since she has the QC. | |
| 11 March 2008 | |
| D&T, yes, I'm here in Jersey.
OK...she can claim HOH, just list child's name on line given, but NO dependent status. Then husband will file as MFS, with child listed as dependent. I will print out the release and have wife sign it....I was confused as to whether husband would be allowed the Single status -vs- MFS..... Thanks, everyone.. DJ | |
Death&Taxes (talk|edits) said: | 11 March 2008 |
| There were a couple of threads on this: Discussion: Legal Separation and Discussion: True Legal Separation MFJ to MFS' Quagmire | |
