Head of Household

[photoman]

I have a mother age(44) and she pays more than 1/2 of household bills. Has a son that turned (19) in 09 who is single and works. He does not attend school or is not disabled. He will have a w-2 for about 6000 and mothers w-2 is about same. Is there anyway that the mother can file Head of Household and not claim son> He will file and claim himself.

[Koss]

No HOH

In general, there has to be a qualifying child or qualifying relative in order to use HOH. One important exception is when the custodial parent releases the exemption. But that's clearly not the case here...

Does the mother have significant income from sources other than her wages?

If she does not have such income, then I don't understand how the HOH status would benefit her, even if she somehow qualified for it.

With a filing status of single, and $6000 in AGI, her taxable income will be zero. HOH would increase her standard deduction, but I don't see how that would make a difference in her bottom line.

BMK

[Kram BergGold]

No

If the child does not qualify as a dependent, then H of H is not available.

[FEDUKE404]

HAS to be a dependent ??

If the child does not qualify as a dependent, then H of H is not available.

I thought there were several instances where the HOH filing status can be used by a taxpayer where the qualifying person is not a dependent.

Hence the reason for line 4 on Form 1040.

FE

[Jesse]

The only exception that comes to mind is when the custodial parent allows noncustodial parent to claim the exemption w/ Form 8332. The custodial parent would still be Head of Household but with no dependent.

[taxea]

Why is mom filing at all? Unless she has other income the 6000 is under the minimum filing limit.
HOH requires a qualifying dependent and she doesn't have one

[RitaB]

Eic

Why is mom filing at all?

I believe she would qualify for EIC. (And, I am assuming that her filing status is not supposed to be MFS.)

I agree that HOH won't help her if she is the only person on the return and there is no other income.

[gkaiseril]

The rules for HOH have changed over the years. At one time HOH was available without a dependent, but not any more.

The mother needs to file to get FITW returned and EITC for herself if she qualifies for the single filing status.

Son does not meet the are requirement for a Qualifying Child, age. The son's income disqualifies him from the Qualifying Relative.

HOH filing status does not change her taxable income and tax liability. But what does change is the loss of a Qualifying Child for the EITC does change the amount of the refundable credit.

Of course this is results in less EITC than last year because of the loss of the son as a qualifying child for EITC.There should have been a discussion with her about this possible situation.

[taxea]

Gosh Gkaiseril, you must go waaaaaay back. I have been doing taxes since 1993 professional and have never known HOH not to require a dependent.
EIC has been available to single people that qualify and are between ages 25-65...haven't looked at it for 09, don't know if they deleted it.

[DonPriebe]

Gosh Gkaiseril, you must go waaaaaay back. I have been doing taxes since 1993 professional and have never known HOH not to require a dependent.

It wasn't that long ago. As recently as TY 2004, you could qualify for HoH if your single adult child lived with you in your house, even thought you could not claim them as a dependent because of the gross income or support tests. See page 26 of the 2004 Pub 17.

Then they invented the "uniform" definition of a child and everything changed, and keeps changing.

[newbie]

taxea

Between the home office deductions you don't let your clients take and the heads of households you denied before the law DID change it looks like you $crewed some people out of some of their money.

[BP.]

Gosh Gkaiseril, you must go waaaaaay back. I have been doing taxes since 1993 professional and have never known HOH not to require a dependent.

Don't set your waaaaaay-back machine too far, just look here for the 2004 instructions:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040--2004.pdf

It was OK then.

The 2005 QC definition changed the rules. Many of us probably still have the memories of that year's disappointed and disbelieving clients.

[gkaiseril]

Gosh Gkaiseril, you must go waaaaaay back. I have been doing taxes since 1993 professional and have never known HOH not to require a dependent.
EIC has been available to single people that qualify and are between ages 25-65...haven't looked at it for 09, don't know if they deleted it.

I started doing my own taxes when I was 16 and the rule was then any child living with a parent regardless of age or income. Also state sales tax was a deduction along with the state income tax on Schedule A. No EITC, but a $250.00 dollar dividend exclusion.

[Jesse]

Too bad you can't go waaaaaay-back to amend your mistakes

Don't set your waaaaaay-back machine too far, just look here for the 2004 instructions:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-prior/i1040--2004.pdf

It was OK then.

The 2005 QC definition changed the rules. Many of us probably still have the memories of that year's disappointed and disbelieving clients.

Yes, there it is on page 17:

The Head of Household filing status is for unmarried individuals who provide a home for certain other persons….If on 12/31/04 you were unmarried or legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance and either 1 or 2 applies:

2. You paid over half the cost of keeping up a home in which you lived and in which one of the following also lived for more than half of the year (if half or less, see the Exception on this page).

a. Your unmarried child, adopted child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc., or stepchild. It does not matter what age the child was. This child does not have to be your dependent. If the child is not your dependent, enter the child’s name in the space provided on line 4. If you do not enter the name, it will take us longer to process your return.