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.
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:
You could qualify if you can prove you and your sister live separately from your roommate. Some examples would be:
The rules for claiming Head of Household are as follows:
Your sister would qualify as a dependent if she meets the following criteria:
Here are a few links on Head of Household:
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.
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?
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:
You could qualify if you can prove you and your sister live separately from your roommate. Some examples would be:
The rules for claiming Head of Household are as follows:
Your sister would qualify as a dependent if she meets the following criteria:
Here are a few links on Head of Household: