Can I claim head of household this year? I have been able to claim me as head of household but this year she has a baby and plans to file herself.

[monese101]

My daughter is 37 and disabled (no income other than food stamps and medicare) and the baby costs me greatly in utilities.

[xmasbaby0]

Your daughter will get nothing for claiming a dependent if she did not work.  The child-related credits like additional child tax credit are based on having income from working.   So, claiming her child with only food stamps would be useless.

If you have supported your daughter and her child then you should be able to claim both of them as your dependents and file as HOH.

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/who-can-i-claim-as-a-dependent

Am I Head of Household?

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894553-do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household

If you qualify as Head of Household, when you enter your marital status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

To claim a grandchild as your dependent

When you enter the child’s name in My Info, you will be asked “What’s your relationship to  [child’s name]?”  

           Choose “another person”

            a drop down menu will appear that lets you choose grandchild

[Hal_Al]

You can not claim Head of Household (HoH) filing status without a qualifying dependent. If your daughter files a tax return, claiming a dependent of her own, she (and/or her child) cannot be your qualifying person for HoH.

So, the bigger question is should your daughter file her own tax return. The answer is No. There is nothing for her to get by doing so.

The money you hear about people getting for just filing a tax return claiming kids requires them to  have some earned income (wages or self employment). Without earned income, they are not eligible for the "refundable" Earned Income Credit or Additional Child Tax Credit.  Both credits are calculated on the amount of earned income you have. No earned income means no "refund". A small amount of earned income means a small refund. The child tax credit does not "kick in" unless you have at least $2500 of earned income.

A child can be the “qualifying child” dependent of any close relative in the household. It will be much better, for the family,  if you claim the child, as well as your daughter.