HoH Filing Status

[Gretel]

By now the OP would probably like to have us all shot, but the answer seems to be "No, it does not disqualify him from HOH;

Well, he doesn't shoot me since I answered that question clearly on 1/30.

[appelman]

When are tiebreaker rules mandatory?

One source of confusion is which of the tiebreaker rules are mandatory and which only go into effect when two persons actually claim a child. For example, as I understand it, a parent can never forgo the dependency deduction in favor of an otherwise qualified non-parent with lower AGI. In that case, NOBODY gets the deduction. On the other hand, qualified parents can agree between themselves who takes the deduction, without regard to the tiebreaker rules. Would the rest of you agree?