No, your rental home is not a qualifying household for your children or yourself. We would have to assume by your comments that your children do no live with you in which case you would not qualify for head of household filing status.
Who is able to file as a Head of Household?
To qualify, you have to meet certain criteria. To file as Head of Household, you have to:
- Pay for more than half of the expenses for a qualifying household
- Be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year
- Have a qualifying child or dependent
If your children live with you in the home of your girlfriend, you would have to show proof of paying more than half the costs and that they live there if they return home. Also, you mention your children are in college and you pay for half of their expenses, but one key rule is they cannot provide more than 50% of their own support.
A person is considered to have lived with you during periods of time when one of you, or both, are temporarily absent due to special circumstances such as:
- Illness,
- Education,
- Business,
- Vacation, or
- Military service.
It must be reasonable to assume that the absent person will return to the home after the temporary absence. This information is found in the Filing Status chapter of Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax.
@pcoatsfamily
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