Can I file head of household and claim girlfriend as a dependent?

[juan436585]

Me and my girlfriend have a baby together and they have lived with me all year last year. Girlfriend currently does not work and made less then $4050 last year. I provide over half of support for house and living expenses. I know I can file head of household since I have a qualifying child but can I also claim my girlfriend as a dependent at the same time?

[DoninGA · Accepted solution]

You may be able to claim her as a non-relative dependent under the Qualifying Relative rules if she meets all the requirements.

To be a Qualifying Relative -

1. The person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. A child is not the qualifying child of any other taxpayer if the child's parent (or any other person for whom the child is defined as a qualifying child) is not required to file an income tax return or files an income tax return only to get a refund on income tax withheld.

2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household. 

3. The person's gross income for the year must be less than $4,050 (social security does not count) in 2016

4. You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

5. The person must be a U.S. citizen or a U.S., Canada, or Mexico resident for some part of the year.

6. The person must not file a joint return with their spouse.

[juan436585]

Thanks for the answer! So I should be able to file both as head of household and also claim her as a non relative dependent, correct? Would my girlfriend need to file her taxes as Single then?

[DoninGA]

Since you are claiming your child as a dependent and meet the other requirements as Head of Household, you can still claim her as a dependent if she meets the requirements.  She can file a tax return but Must indicate on her tax return that she can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return.

[cburnerz]

Would a tIRA conversion to Roth IRA count towards $4050 limit? Thanks.

[Zbucklyo]

Yes, it would.

[srspor]

According to answer 2, and to how I read IRS Publication 501:
"2. The person either (a) must be related to you or (b) must live with you all year as a member of your household."
However, TurboTax2019 prevents claiming Head of Household status for condition 2b, only 2a, even if all the other conditions are valid.
That is, if the relationship is not grandparent, parent, sibling, or child, and is stated as Aunt, Uncle, or Other, TurboTax2019 blocks claiming Head of Household status.
Any advice about how to get around that?  Does it make sense to edit the tax form directly, or will that be blocked as well?

[DoninGA]

A non-relative will not qualify you for Head of Household filing status.  IRS rules.