Can I file head of household when my boyfriend, and his two kids are all my dependents and I pay all the bills?

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

Are you the mother to either of the children?  If not you cannot be eligible for Head of Household filing status, you will have to file as Single.

If you will be claiming your bf and the children as dependent you need to make sure that you are eligible to do so under the Qualifying Relative rules.

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.
2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household.
3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,700 (social security does not count) in 2023
4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.
5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.
6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

[Hal_Al]

Q. Can I file head of household (HoH) when my boyfriend, and his two kids are all my dependents and I pay all the bills?

A. No. Although all three may qualify as your dependents, under the "Qualifying Relative" rules, they must be related by blood or marriage, to be a qualifying person for HoH filing status. 

In addition, qualifying relative dependents, who are also children, do NOT qualify you for the child tax credit or the child based portion of the Earned Income Credit.  You only get the (up to) $500 other dependent credit, which is non refundable.