topic Can I claim head of household after moving in with my parents? in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

Can I claim head of household after moving in with my parents?

Tran0287 — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 06:47:49 GMT

I am a single parent and claim my dependent. I recently moved in with my parents who’s paid off their mortgage and doesn’t claim me on their taxes. Could I still claim head of household if there’s no bills under my name? My primary residence is now a rental property as well so I don’t technically have a primary residence unless I change it to my parents. Thanks for the answer!

Re: Can I claim head of household after moving in with my parents?

marctu — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:22:26 GMT

The Head of Household Filing Status typically allows for a more generous tax situation to unmarried taxpayers who maintain a home for a qualifying person, such as a child or family relative.

To qualify, you must meet certain criteria. To file as head of household, you must:

Pay for more than half of the household expenses
Be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year, and
You must have a qualifying child or dependent.

You would appear to meet the second and third parts of the test. The question is to you meet the first part of the test.

The first part is that you must have paid for more than half of the cost involved in maintaining a qualifying household during the tax year. This means that you must have paid more than half of the total household bills, including rent or mortgage, utility bills, insurance, property taxes, groceries, repairs and other common household expenses. Your post does not offer enough detail to assess if this is the case. I would strongly suggest keeping excellent records if you determine that you paid or more than half of the cost involved in maintaining a qualifying household during the tax year.

Re: Can I claim head of household after moving in with my parents?

Tran0287 — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 00:45:01 GMT

Thanks for the reply. So I have paid off my primary condo and am turning into a rental property. My parents also paid off their mortgage and the house is under their name, so I won’t be paying towards property taxes or home insurance on their home. But if I pay for the utility bills, groceries, household items would that count as head of household? Otherwise how would I file being that I have a dependent and an unmarried? Thanks!