Filing head of household with elderly parent living with me

[Kathlawrence]

If I claim head of household with my elderly parent living with me, does my parent file a tax return as she would normally with her social security income.

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

If the Only income she receives is Social Security benefits there is no reason for her to file a tax return.

To be eligible for Head of Household if you are not married you need to provide over one-half the cost to maintain the home and you must have a qualified person as a dependent.

You may be able to claim your parent as a dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules if they meet all the requirements under the 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 $4,400 (social security does not count) in 2022
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.

See this TurboTax support FAQ for Head of Household - https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/tax-filing-status/qualify-head-household...

[Critter-3]

Ok ... if the only income the parent has is SS benefits then they do not need to file an income tax return unless they had ACA marketplace insurance. 

Next if the parent has income (other than SS benefits) that exceeds $4400 in 2022 you cannot claim them. Read up on the rules here : 

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

[Kathlawrence]

Thank you! Yes SS is her only income and I do provide more than 50% of the expenses for our home and neither of us have a spouse. 
She is on Medicaid so that helps with her disabilities while I work but other than that I provide all care 24/7 and I am the only income provider and I pay for more than she has ability to do so. 
so since she isn’t required to file a return then I guess HOH status for my return is accurate. 
I’ll check to make sure for 2023 that those rules still apply. 
thank you for your detailed explanation. 
have a great day!

Kath

[rjs]

If you meet the requirements to file as head of household you can file as head of household whether or not your mother files a tax return. Whether she files a tax return is not one of the considerations for you to file as head of household.

If she had federal tax withheld from her Social Security benefits, she should file a tax return to get a refund of the tax that was withheld, even if she is otherwise not required to file. Federal tax withheld would be in box 6 of her Form SSA-1099.

[DoninGA]

@Kathlawrence You mentioned that the parent is covered by Medicaid for healthcare.  You should check with your local state Medicaid office to determine if claiming your parent as a dependent on your tax return will affect her Medicaid benefits.

[NCperson]

@Kathlawrence from your explanation, you can file HOH.  

here is the IRS app that can confirm that for you.  There are no rule changes for 2023. 

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status

excluding Social Security, if your mother earns less than the standard deduction (2023: $15,700) there is no filing requirment,