My son is attending college January through May 2017 and will graduate at age 23. However he turns 24 in November. Can I claim still Head of Household for 2017?

[patty-nesgoda]

I am a single parent paying over $600 a month on my son's loans and I just bought my first home to help with tax deductions. I spend $35 a week on groceries so I can make sure my son gets his education.  I don't even have cable TV! I find it ridiculous that the government makes a single tax payer pay a higher rate of taxes than a married couple who makes the same amount of money combined.

[TomD8]

For purposes of claiming a dependent (and being able to file HOH), the key is the dependent's age as of December 31st of the tax year.  Since your son will be 24 on 12/31/2017, you will not be able to claim him as a Qualifying Child on your 2017 tax return.  But you may be able to claim him as a Qualifying Relative if his gross 2017 income is less than $4,050 (this is the 2016 number; it may change a bit in 2017), and you provide over half of his support for the year.

[Hal_Al]

No. Since he will be over 23, at the end of 2017, the income test (he can't make more than $4050) will determine if he is a dependent. If you don't have a dependent to claim, you don't have a "qualifying person" to be Head of Household.