head of household-status

[sea-tax]

I need some help . My mind is officially gone.

Boyfriend and girlfriend live together all year.

BF has w2 income of 116000 and GF has w2 income of 75000.
Both have a dependant child over 20 years of age but under 24 years of age who are full time students.
They each qualify to take the dependency exemption for there respective children.

Question: would they each qualify for HOH status because they have these separate dependant children and paid more that 50% of the cost to maintain there home?

Are home costs thought of as separate or combined for this purpose?
Any help would be appreciated.

[Gretel]

If they are boyfriend and girlfriend they probably share a bedroom and act like a family. In this case I would say only one can qualify for HOH.

If they keep everything separate, bedrooms, breakfast, etc. then they might both qualify.

[sea-tax]

If they are boyfriend and girlfriend they probably share a bedroom and act like a family. In this case I would say only one can qualify for HOH.

If they keep everything separate, bedrooms, breakfast, etc. then they might both qualify.

So now I am a little more confused. If they live in separate bedrooms then they can both take hoh status?
Thanks for the help Gabriele. It seems to me that the fact of them sleeping in the same bed may not be a determining factor. But maybe I am , missing somthing. Can you please clarify.

[GIMoe]

Hoh

It seems to me that the fact of them sleeping in the same bed may not be a determining factor. But maybe I am , missing somthing. Can you please clarify.

Sleeping in the same bedroom/bed is a determining factor because it shows that they are basically operating as one household, therefore only one of them gets HOH.

[sea-tax]

ok it all seem to becoming clear. thanks to all for the help.

[veritas]

I don't know about sleeping arrangements

but it seems to me unless the households are physically divided you have one household. So if the household expenses are split down the middle neither qualifies for HOH. If one of the adults pays more than half the cost of maintaining the home, that individual gets HOH and the other is single.

[Bonnie]

One House

[
Question: would they each qualify for HOH status because they have these separate dependant children and paid more that 50% of the cost to maintain there home?

There is one home. They cannot possibly both pay more than 50% of the cost of maintaining it.

Bonnie

[George Boutwell]

One Bedroom, but two Kitchens?

>There is one home. They cannot possibly both pay more than 50% of the cost of maintaining it.<

That overlooks food consumed at home as being included in household costs. Let's say that they all just camp out in one big $500 surplus tent, on an acre of land they bought for $1,000, so that there is no housing cost. But they have to buy groceries, and they each shop just for themselves and their own child. Why would you not allow both to claim Head of Household, then?

[Gene V]

Franchise Tax Board

If there are two individuals living in the same house, each with their own child, and each paying all their own expenses and those of their own child, could both or either taxpayer be eligible to file using the head of household filing status?

Yes. One or both taxpayers may qualify for the head of household filing status if each of them met all of the qualification requirements for the status. One of the requirements is that the taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the taxpayer and his or her own child. If each family maintained separate finances and did not contribute to the support of the other family, each family may be treated as keeping up a separate home.

[solomon]

If you

want the official source, see SCA 1998-041 dated 12/04/98 - two HOH permitted.

[veritas]

Well seatax

What's the verdict? Do they pay their household expenses seperately. Or is it more like one pays the mortgage payment and the other pays utilities and groceries?