Filing HOH while roommate with parents ?

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
April 7, 2021
2 replies
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My mom doesn’t have a defendant to claim so she can’t claim HOH. We split the rent for the most part but technically I owe her money from past bills. So she has paid more financially at our home. We do both buy food and share it. I however DO have a qualifying dependent , my child. Based off of the fact that I am in debt to her and she has paid more towards bills than I have ... can I fold HOH or no ? Should I file as single instead ?

NCperson

Level 15

because this can get complicated, just run your scenario through the IRS dependent tool....I'd run it twice, once for yourself and once playing the role of your mother when answering the questions.

https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/whom-may-i-claim-as-a-dependent

who earns more money - you or your mom? do both of you earn more than $4300 each? (if yes, you can't be her dependent or vise versa)

who is paying more than 50% of the financial support of your daughter? you or your mom?

it could be that your mom files HOH (claiming her grandchild) and you file single...

Mike9241

Level 15

a requirement to claim head of household besides being unmarried (or considered unmarried) on 12/31/2020 and having a qualifying dependent is that you paid more than 1/2 the cost of keeping up the home (for you and your dependent). you say you didn't so you can't use that filing status.

NCperson

Level 15

@Mike9241 - it wasn't clear who is paying for than 50%; while housing and food was discussed (and they are normally the largest), it never discussed utilities, transportation, medical, etc. etc. etc.

Certainly, the grandmother and mother have to determine which one of them is paying more than 50% as it is a critical determinate of who can be HOH, which is why i stated it could be Grandma.

I find these dependent questions can be very complex and dependent on variables that are often not posted, so I normally just point the question to the IRS tool - it is the source of the Truth.

Confused20Author

Level 3

Thank you both. I pay more for my child ... we both pay rent. I owe her some money for paying more but as far as my child she doesn’t pay more for her than I do.