Head of household when I had a dependent half of the year and roommates whole year

[Neffarion]

My specific question is whether or not I satisfy the “paid half of the cost to keep up my home in the year”

Here is a breakdown of the events this year:

• From Jan to Dec I have had 2 other roommates. We split rent 1/3 each from Jan to end of Aug.

• In middle of June, my younger sister moved in (sharing my room) as my dependent. (She was definitely with me more than half the nights of the year)

• I began paying 1/2 of the rent Sep 1st to cover my sister’s share of the rent and my own.

Do I qualify as head of household? Some posts/articles I’m reading say a room counts as a single household in this situation, so I was paying the full rent for the room the whole year. Others say it involves the entire apartment. Just not sure what constitutes as a household in a roommate situation.

[xmasbaby0]

You have to have a qualifying dependent in order to file as head of household.   Are you trying to claim your sister as a dependent?

IRS interview to help determine who can be claimed:

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

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/3113432-who-can-i-claim-as-my-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.

[Neffarion]

Yes, my sister will be claimed as my dependent. I'm just not sure if the way my roommates and I split rent, counts as me not paying over 50% of household costs.

Does the whole apartment count as one household? Or is my room and portion of the rent one household?

[BrittanyS · Accepted solution]

It depends, if you just split the rent, utilities, and groceries 50% this would not qualify as Head of Household because you are not paying more than the household expenses.  You will need to determine if you pay more than half the household expenses:

To determine if you pay more than half the household expenses when two taxpayers share the same address, you would need to determine whether the household constitutes one household or two.  You will need to prove that two households exist and you pay more than half the household income.  Some examples of two separate households would be:

• each roommate has their own phone
• each roommate maintains separate finances
• each roommate has separate bedrooms.

You could qualify if you can prove you and your sister live separately from your roommate.  Some examples would be:

• You will need to prove you do not share meals
• You pay for separate streaming services or cable from your roommate
• Your roommate doesn't provide childcare for your sister while you are out.

The rules for claiming Head of Household are as follows:

• Be considered unmarried on the last day of the year
• Have a qualifying dependent
• Pay more than half of the household income

Your sister would qualify as a dependent if she meets the following criteria:

• Under the age of 19 as of December 31, 2022, or Under the age of 24 and a full-time student
• She must have lived at your residence for more than 6 months during 2022
• She can't have a gross income greater than $4,400
• You provide more than half of her total support
• If she qualifies to be claimed by someone else, she can not be claimed on someone else's return.

Here are a few links on Head of Household:

What is a dependent?

A case of two households

@Neffarion