My mother qualifies as my dependant, lives with me, I pay for more than half her living expenses (rent/electric/cable etc) but she does not have her own home-therefore I do not pay to upkeep it. Not sure how to answer the question "did you pay more

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TurboTax Deluxe Online

Answer

If your Mother lived with you for more than half the year in 2016 then you would need to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home that you both lived in together, in order to file as head of household, as long as you meet all of the other requirements.

However, when a parent does NOT live with you, then in order to qualify to claim head of household, you would have to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your parent's home.

Please refer to page 9 of Pub 501 under the headings, "qualifying person" and "special rule for parent" for additional clarification. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

Anonymous

Answer

However, when a parent does NOT live with you, then in order to qualify to claim head of household, you would have to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your parent's home.

Please refer to page 9 of Pub 501 under the headings, "qualifying person" and "special rule for parent" for additional clarification. https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf