Claiming HOH for College Student Who Graduated

Forum|Forum|3 months ago
April 4, 2026
1 reply
64 views

Can I still claim HOH if my qualifying child (23yo) graduated college in the summer, has a full time job starting in September, still lives with me and I pay all living expenses? Do I have to claim her as a dependent to maintain my HOH status, or can she claim herself on her own return while I claim HOH?

DoninGA

Level 15

If she does not provide over one-half of her own support then you should be able to claim her as a dependent under the Qualifying Child rules if she meets all the requirements under the rules.

To be a Qualifying Child -

1. The child must be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them.
2. The child must be (a) under age 19 at the end of the year, (b) under age 24 at the end of the year and a full-time student or (c) any age and permanently and totally disabled.
3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year. Temporary absences while away at college are considered living with you.
4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
5. If the child meets the rules to be a qualifying child of more than one person, you must be the person entitled to claim the child as a qualifying child.
6. The child must be a U.S. citizen or U.S., Canada or Mexico resident for some portion of the year.
7. The child must be younger than you unless disabled.

s6kiitwgAuthor

Level 2

Thank you for the quick response, however, the issue is that I do not want to claim her as a dependent. She was a full-time student the first half of the year; has a good paying job now (starting in September) and she will want to claim herself on her personal return. Because she still lives with me and I pay 100% room, board, car expenses, tuition, etc., I want to claim HOH without claiming her as a dependent. Cheers.

DoninGA

Level 15

@s6kiitwg If you are not claiming a qualifying dependent on your tax return you cannot have Head of Household filing status. If you are not married then you have to file as Single.