topic How to document "Food" category to establish "Head of Household" filing status in Get your taxes done using TurboTax

How to document "Food" category to establish "Head of Household" filing status

jmd1984 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 18:23:29 GMT

Hi everyone,

I need to document food, gas, and other expenses in my household; and, I was told that bank statements were acceptable. Could someone confirm that this is true?

Second, and more importantly, am I allowed to redact other information on the bank statements? Essentially, I only want to send the IRS what they need (note: they have not requested bank statements as part of this audit process, just receipts and proof for Head of Household).

Will redacting my bank statements raise a red flag? I'm not concerned about them looking at balances since I do not have any undisclosed income. It's more of a privacy thing.

Thank you!

Re: How to document "Food" category to establish "Head of Household" filing status

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 18:48:01 GMT

there should be a phone number on the notice, call. bank statements may or may not be adequate - ask. what the IRS really prefers are the actually receipts.

say you buy food at XYZ and pay by check. you get a receipt but toss it. how is the IRS supposed to know that the payment didn't include non-food items (like animal food).

Re: How to document "Food" category to establish "Head of Household" filing status

jmd1984 — Mon, 21 Oct 2019 18:58:46 GMT

I had a similar concern. Fortunately, food expense is such a small % of the overall total expense I think I should be OK. I just wanted to be thorough -- the threshold to be Head of Household is 50% of total expenses and everything aside from food I have documented w/ billing statements, receipts, etc.