2 hoh with same address

[SNIFFER96]

I have two client that share one household. They are both single with children and unrelated, other than being childhood friend; they are not domestic partners: one have two children, and the other has three children. They split expenses down the middle: utilities, rent. They each provide for their children's support,but did not keep grocery receipts; additionally, the children lived with them for more than half the year. The question is: can these two unrelated people use the HOH status?

On my second question, the facts are basically the same. However, the two clients live together as a couple. They have three children, the dad claims two, and mother claims one. The mother is our client and the father has his taxes done elsewhere.
May our client use the HOH status after dad has filed his taxes?

[ATSMAN]

I have two single mothers who for years have rented one house and split the common expenses 50-50. One mother has 2 kids and the other has one. They are not related. They each pay for their own kids support. Doing the test I split the rent, utilities and other common expenses that they share 50-50. each qualifies as HOH based on the tests. Mailing address is same for both.

[terryats]

the following link from IRS says it is possible for two people same address to file HH https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-sca/1998-041.pdf

[Dude]

I am in the 2 households under one roof camp as well. However, in these cases I think an accurate household budget is of paramount importance. As we hashed out in another thread, justifying two separate households can come down to something as simple as who is allowed to consume what food. If both parties agree the food bill is separate and food is NOT community property then you have your justification.

[ATSMAN]

If both parties agree the food bill is separate and food is NOT community property then you have your justification.

Generally speaking it is more like a roommate situation. They split the rent and utilities but food is separate according to their own liking. When I had 2 roommates during my college days, we prepared separate foods occasionally sharing a dish or two. We paid our own separate food bills.

[SNIFFER96]

Thanks, your information was very helpful. Most of my colleagues were saying that it couldn't be done for the same address. I am thankful for this forum, as I am a first time user. Again, thank you for your responses.