HOH for parents who are divorced but live together

[Koss]

Schedule A

Splitting the mortgage interest and property tax 50/50 is probably a reasonable way to do it, if they both contributed to the payment of those expenses.

BMK

[Kram BergGold]

H of H - It Depends

If two single people each with a child live in the same house, each pays their share of the household expense, each has their own bedroom (they are not involved), each feeds, clothes and displines their own child, then they can each be H of H. My guess is this is not your situation. I assume they are a couple. Given that, only the one that provides over 50% of the household expenses can be H of H.

[kamckinley]

No, I know this couple personally, believe me it was definitely not for tax purposes!

They are still divorced, so just to summarize how to treat this...

- only the wife qualifies for HOH
- split the house deductions between both since they live together again

Just want to make sure I'm treating this correctly.

Thanks so much!

[Koss]

Divorce and Remarriage

Did they get divorced for tax purposes?

The IRS now says that if you get divorced and then remarry the following year, and your only reason for divorce was because it was better for tax purposes, that you are still considered married for that year.

Doesn't sound like that's what this couple did, though...

BMK

[kamckinley]

One more wrinkle in this case... even though the mother earns more money and pays more than half of the housing costs for their two children together, the house deductions have been claimed by the father for the last two years. He kept the house when they originally divorced, thus we used the deductions on his tax return. Now that the mother is back living in the house, and the mortgage and house expenses are paid by both, I believe I need to split the deductions between them both from here on, correct? Oy, these people just need to get remarried! Thanks again.

[Koss]

HOH Status

One of the requirements for HOH is that the taxpayer must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home.

If two taxpayers are living together as a unmarried couple, then there is only one home, and only one household. It is not a "roommate" type situation. You cannot argue that you have two single parents, living in the same house, each paying their own expenses, and maintaining their own household. It is one home, one household, and one family.

It is not mathematically possible for both taxpayers to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home.

They can't both be HOH.

BMK

[kamckinley]

Hi All,

I have an unusual client situation that I'd like to run by you. Client is a divorced couple that moved back in together after being divorced for a year. The husband has a child from a previous marriage. He is the custodial parent, the child lives with him full time and he provides all of her support. He claims her each year, the mother is not involved in the care of this child. So he can claim HOH for this child, no real questions on this one.

Here's the part where I need some direction. This couple has two children together. The divorce agreement says the mother claims the children. Since the parents live together, and the mother earns more than the father, I'm assuming she claims HOH for the two children they have together. So father claims HOH for the child he has from a previous marriage, and the mother claims HOH for the two children they have together. Is this correct? I believe they can both claim HOH in this case, but it's an unusual enough situation I thought I'd get another set of eyes to look at it.

Thanks!
Kristine