Need clarification on HOH

[thomtax]

For some reason, something that usually simple to me is fogging up. Please look at this and tell me if and where I am off.

Client owns home and between ss & pension receives about $34,000
Lady friend lives with him and draws less than $10,000 in ss. There is no return to file.
About 18 months ago, her grandson had to come live with them. He furnishes over half of support for both of them.

Going through the checklist, it appears as if he can claim the child, but does not qualify for HOH. Is this your understanding or should I be giving HOH?

Thanks in advance.

LT

[Matt Sova]

Need more information

Does the lady's grandson pass the Qualifying Relative tests on page 3-15 of the Deluxe Book? If so, then he can claim the child and, I would assume, file as Head of Household.

[thomtax]

Does the lady's grandson pass the Qualifying Relative tests on page 3-15 of the Deluxe Book? If so, then he can claim the child and, I would assume, file as Head of Household.

Yes, I guess that I wasn't clear enough on that. My only question is about the HOH part.

Thanks for the reply.

LT

[Gene V]

He doesn't qualify for HOH, he needs a qualifying relative to live with him for HOH.
See Pub. 17 page 22 or TTB page 3-18

[dkss]

Agree with Gene. He needs a RELATED qualifying relative to qualify for HOH.

[Gary2]

More precisely, to use a qualifying relative to claim head of household, that person must meet the QR relationship test. If that person only meets the QR "member of household for the entire year test", then you cannot use that person to claim HoH.

Your parent doesn't have to live with you at all to be your dependent or to qualify you as HoH.

Your aunt or uncle don't have to live with you at all to be your dependent, but they do have to live with you to qualify you as HoH.

Your cousin has to live with you for the entire year to be your dependent, and cannot qualify you to be HoH at all.

[thomtax]

Thanks All

That was my thoughts but I just did not want to miss out on a possible benefit for the client, in case I was overlooking something.

LT

[Burke]

And Congress expects people who do their OWN taxes to understand these rules???

[Gretel]

And Congress expects people who do their OWN taxes to understand these rules???

That is a big misunderstanding of their intent (smile, I know you are just being sarcastic). Just like Intuit with QB they want to make taxpayers believe that it is easy to do their own tax returns, so most likely one of two situations will transpire.

1. Taxpayer doesn't get refund he deserves.

2. Taxpayer understates his tax liability, gets caught and is hit with penalty and interest and no relief from it since "I did not know better" is not a reasonable cause.

Great money makers for the government.

[Matt Sova]

I stand corrected

He does NOT qualify for HOH.