That's not actually true, and INTUIT does not decide what a qualifying person is. The IRS does. Here's what the IRS says about it:
Head of Household status:
https://www.irs.gov/faqs/filing-requirements-status-dependents/filing-status
"Generally, to qualify for head of household filing status, you must have a qualifying child or a dependent. " This rule does not specifically say that the dependant must be related.
Now, the dependant rules are a bit more complex since most of the pages with rules are in specific reference to children, but the IRS has a tool you can go through to determine if you can claim someone as a dependant here:
https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent
Of note, these are the rules on that form that matter:
- Who lived with you during 2022, or
- Who is your child, or
- For whom you provided any financial support during 2022.
Then, if they were not married, you were not married, and if they did NOT provide more than half of their own support, the form says you can claim them as a dependant provided that your relationship with them did not break any laws and no one else can claim them as a dependant. They even have an option in their dropdown,. "What is [name]'s relationship to you?" in which you can choose "Not related"
When I go through all the steps it clearly says I can claim the person as a Dependant even if they are not related to me, and since having a dependant is a requirement to be the head of household that means that Intuit is wrong. Unless you have a specific IRS reference that specifically defines what kind of Dependant is permitted.
And I didn't miss any question. I literally typed out ALL of the questions and your question was NOT one of them. I ended up having to file through a different service.
