Can I claim head of household while someone else claims my child on their taxes?

[jeangrup]

Well, thanks again for your info. It sure can't get any more confusing when I can't even believe a CPA. : )  I don't know what to believe at this point.

[macuser_22]

There are all kinds of CPA's (Certified Public Accountants).   Many do accounting and have very limited (if any) tax law knowledge.

Then  see IRS Publication 17 (page 23) and read the HOH rules yourself.  You will note that it says nothing about disabled, but it does say that you must have a related dependent and a dependent cannot claim themself.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p17.pdf

[jeangrup]

@ChampChiran  -- Unfortunately, tax law is very complicated and contradicts itself. Therein lies the problem. At the very top of the 1040 form there is a line to write the person's name if you are using them to claim head of household and they are not your dependent. It says, "If you checked the HOH box ..., enter the child's name here if the qualifying person is your child and not your dependent." Also, in Publication 501, it states that a qualifying child can be "...any age if permanently and totally disabled." These are just two small examples of things I've read. Believe me, I've read through so many IRS publications and it's maddening because it's very contridictory.

But, I really appreciate your help. May I ask what your tax expertise is? Thank you

[jeangrup]

a@Champ -- I also read this in the link you sent me:

How to file. Indicate your choice of this filing
status by checking the “Head of Household”
box on the Filing Status line at the top of Form
1040 or 1040-SR. If the child who qualifies you
for this filing status isn't claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section of Form
1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child's name in the
entry space at the bottom of the Filing Status
section. Use the Head of a household column
of the Tax Table, or Section D of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax."

[macuser_22]

---

@jeangrup wrote:

@ChampChiran  -- Unfortunately, tax law is very complicated and contradicts itself. Therein lies the problem. At the very top of the 1040 form there is a line to write the person's name if you are using them to claim head of household and they are not your dependent. It says, "If you checked the HOH box ..., enter the child's name here if the qualifying person is your child and not your dependent." Also, in Publication 501, it states that a qualifying child can be "...any age if permanently and totally disabled." These are just two small examples of things I've read. Believe me, I've read through so many IRS publications and it's maddening because it's very contridictory.

But, I really appreciate your help. May I ask what your tax expertise is? Thank you

---

A child that has been certified by a physician can be a Qualifying Child dependent at any age and that is correct.  If you are able to claim the child as your dependent that lived with you more than half the tax year and you pay more than half the total upkeep if the home then your an claim HOH.

The IRS publication that stated that the child can be your qualifying relative without being a dependent has a footnote that explains the one and only situation where that can happen and that is when parents that are separated have a custody agreement that allows the parent that does not live with the child to claim the dependent, but the parent that does live with the child can claim the HOH filing status.   

The concept of custody ends when the child becomes an adult by the laws of your state (age 18 in most states), after that you must be able to claim the child as a dependent.

Why can't you claim the child as a dependent?

Since you refer to IRS Pub 501 see page 8 under Head of Household

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

5. You must be able to claim the child as a
dependent. However, you meet this test if
you can't claim the child as a dependent
only because the noncustodial parent can
claim the child using the rules described,
later, in Children of divorced or separated
parents (or parents who live apart) under
Qualifying Child or in Support Test for
Children of Divorced or Separated Parents
(or Parents Who Live Apart) under Qualifying
Relative. The general rules for claiming
a child as a dependent are explained,
later, under Dependents.

If that is the case, and the child is under age 18 (or the age of majority in your state) then being disabled makes no difference at all in being able to claim HOH. If the non-custodial parent is claiming than you enter that in the dependent interview.  When you said "adult child" I assumed that the child was an adult so custody would not apply.

[macuser_22]

---

@jeangrup wrote:

a@Champ -- I also read this in the link you sent me:

How to file. Indicate your choice of this filing
status by checking the “Head of Household”
box on the Filing Status line at the top of Form
1040 or 1040-SR. If the child who qualifies you
for this filing status isn't claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section of Form
1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child's name in the
entry space at the bottom of the Filing Status
section. Use the Head of a household column
of the Tax Table, or Section D of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax."

---

Correct, but you must read the 1040 instructions for that line which says  on page 13:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf

4. Your qualifying child who, even
though you are the custodial parent, isn't
your dependent because of the rule for
Children of divorced or separated parents
under Who Qualifies as Your Dependent,
later.
If the child isn't claimed as your dependent,
enter the child's name in the entry
space below the filing status checkboxes.
If you don’t enter the name, it
will take us longer to process your return.

As pointed out in my other post, that does not apply to an adult child.

But if you meet al the other requirements for HOH then why do you think that you cannot claim the dependent?

---Tests To Be a Qualifying Child---
(Must pass ALL of these tests)

NOTE: If a child passes all of these tests he must say “yes” on his/her own tax return (if he/she files one) that another taxpayer CAN claim him/her as a dependent even if they DO NOT claim him/her)

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 2019, (b) under age 24 at the end of 2019 and a full-time student* for any part of 5 months of 2019, or (c) any age if permanently and totally disabled and must be younger than you (or your spouse if filing jointly).

3. The child must have lived with you for more than half of the year (There are exceptions for temporary absences such as school, illness, business, vacation, military service).

4. The child must not have provided more than half of his or her own support for the year.
See Worksheet 3-1. Worksheet for Determining Support
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2019_publink1000171012

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 is not filing a joint return.

7. The child must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. resident alien, U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico

*A full-time student is a student who is enrolled for the number of hours or courses the school considers to be full-time attendance during some part of each of any 5 calendar months of the year.

See IRS Publication 17 for more information.

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17