Can more than one person file head of household at the same residence?

[La-Toya]

I have claimed head of household at my residence and assist with most of the bills and rent. Another person in the household wants to claim head of household, but has no dependents and will claim his mother as a dependent that also resides at my residence. Will this cause an audit?

[bwa · Accepted solution]

To claim Head of Household you must provide over 1/2 of the cost of maintaining a household for you and a qualifying relative.  Because of that, two adults in the same household cannot both claim HOH even if they each have a qualifying relative, as each cannot pay MORE THAN 1/2 of the cost.  One has to pay more, one has to pay less.

[TaxGuyBill]

However, "household" and "house" are two different things.  Although it's unusual, two separate families sharing one house CAN at times both claim Head of Household.  It would depend on the specific facts and circumstances of each case.
<a href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/1998-041.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-wd/1998-041.pdf</a>

[La-Toya]

Thank you so much. This has helped. We have two families residing in the same home