My friend and I both live in the same household. Can we both file head of household even though we don’t have any dependents and we both contributed to the bills?

[tiffany05282998]

My friend and I both live in the same household. Is it possible that we can both file head of household even though we don’t have any dependents that we can claim? 

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

No.  Neither of you can have Head of Household status since neither of you have a qualifying person as a dependent.  And one of you must have provided over one-half of the cost to maintain the home, even if by $1.  So even if you did have a dependent only one could have HOH filing status.

[macuser_22]

To claim HOH you must have a closely related dependent who can only be:

    Your child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them (for example, your grandchild). (A legally adopted child is considered your child.)

    Your brother, sister, half brother, half sister, stepbrother, or stepsister.

    Your father, mother, grandparent, or other direct ancestor, but not foster parent.

    Your stepfather or stepmother.

    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.

Nobody else qualifies.