My daughter filed her own taxes but can I still claim head of household?

[BPM21]

My daughter is 21, a full time student, and made $25,000. She lived with me all year and I paid all the bills. She already filed her own return so I can't claim her as a dependent. But at the top of the 1040 form it says, "if you checked the hoh box enter the child's name if the qualifying person is a child but not your dependent." She meets all the tests to be my qualifying child and she's not my dependent so I'm assuming I can just put her name on this top line and still claim head of household, correct?

[xmasbaby0]

Your daughter has made a mistake.   If she is a full-time student and is only 21 you CAN claim her as a dependent and SHE needs to amend her return to say that she can be claimed.     You can claim her as a dependent and thus file as Head of Household.    You should also receive the $1400 stimulus for claiming her as a dependent.    

You cannot file as HOH unless you claim a qualifying dependent---and your daughter is that dependent.   That box you see is used by divorced or not-married couples who are using a signed agreement that allows one parent to file as HOH while the other one claims the child as a 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 filing status (single or married filing separately) into MyInfo, and then enter your qualifying dependent, TurboTax will offer HOH as your filing status.

For your daughter:

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/dependents/help/when-do-i-have-to-answer-yes-to-being-claimed-as-a...

Your daughter can be claimed as a qualifying child---she is under 24, and is a full-time student.  The amount of income she earned is irrelevant.

WHO CAN I CLAIM AS A DEPENDENT?

You can claim a child, relative, friend, fiance (etc.) as a dependent on your 2020 taxes as long as they meet the following requirements:

Qualifying child

•They are related to you.

•They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

•They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or   Mexican resident.

•They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

•They are under the age of 19 (or 24 for full-time students).

• No age limit for permanently and totally disabled children

  •      They live with you for more than half the year (exceptions apply).

Qualifying relative

•They don't have to be related to you (despite the name).

•They cannot be claimed as a dependent by someone else.

•They are a U.S. citizen, resident alien, national, or a Canadian or Mexican resident.

•They are not filing a joint return with their spouse.

•They lived with you the entire year.

•They made less than $4300  (not counting Social Security)

•You provided more than half of their financial support. More info

When you add someone as a dependent, we'll ask a series of questions to make sure you can claim them.

Related Information:

•Does a dependent have to live with me?

•What does "financially support another person" mean?

•Can I claim a newborn baby?

[xmasbaby0]

Since your child has already filed a tax return and used her SSN --- you will not be able to e-file if you enter her SSN on your tax return.   Your own return has to be printed, signed and mailed this year.

When you mail a tax return, you need to attach any documents showing tax withheld, such as your W-2’s or any 1099’s.  Use a mailing service that will track it, such as UPS or certified mail so you will know the IRS/state received the return.

Federal and state returns must be in separate envelopes and they are mailed to different addresses.  Read the mailing instructions that print with your tax return carefully so you mail them to the right addresses.

[ColeenD3]

The fact that she already filed doesn't mean you can't claim her. It's not a case of whoever gets there first wins. She meets the qualifications except for possibly one below. She did something with her money. What was it. Even if you provided the stable things like home and food, whatever she spent it on probably also went towards support.

Support — did not provide more than one-half of his/her own support for the year.

For the purposes of the Head of Household filing status, a qualifying person is a child, parent, or relative who meets certain conditions, listed below.

The conditions are stricter than those for claiming a dependent; for example, you might be able to claim a roommate as your dependent, but never as a qualifying person for Head of Household status.

A qualifying child would be:

• Your child (including legally adopted), stepchild, foster child, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild or niece) AND
• Permanently and totally disabled OR under the age of 19 as of December 31, 2020 (under 24 if a full-time student) and younger than you (or your spouse, if filing jointly) AND
• Lived with you for more than half the year AND
• Single (or if the child is married, you'd have to qualify to claim them as a dependent even if you're not going to claim them as such).

A child that is too old to qualify as a child might be able to qualify as a relative for Head of Household. A qualifying relative would be:

• Your mother or father (including your stepfather or stepmother), if you're qualified to claim them as a dependent (even if you're not claiming them as such) OR
• A relative related by blood, legal adoption, or marriage other than a parent (see the full list of qualifying relatives below) AND lived with you for more than half the year AND that you're able to claim as a dependent (even if you're not claiming them as such).
  • Qualifying relatives:
    • Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.
    • Your grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent.
    • A son or daughter of your brother or sister.
    • A son or daughter of your half brother or half sister.
    • A brother or sister of your father or mother. Your son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.