Is is possible to claim "Head of Household" status without claim my daughter as a "Dependent"??

[amberscox]

My daughter is age 23, full time student, lived with me whole year, but made over $10k income. I believe this criteria qualifies her as a "qualifying child" for me to file as Head of Household status.  However.... I do NOT want to claim her as my dependent on my return.  She will file her own tax return and claim her own income.  So is it possible to claim Head of Household WITHOUT claiming her as a dependent, and if so, how?

[xmasbaby0]

No. If you do not claim a dependent, you cannot file as HOH.

[amberscox]

Thank you!

[jhunter1490]

She can file herself and you can file her as well. When she does her taxes they will ask if anyone else can file her she would say yes. More money. You welcome.

[xmasbaby0]

@jhunter1490 That is incorrect.  If a parent claims a child as a dependent the child cannot also claim the personal exemption for herself.

[jpgardner1]

If I provide more than half of the expenses for maintaining my home which I provide to my daughter, how can I claim HH status without claiming her as a dependent?

[macuser_22]

@jpgardner1 - What is the reason that you are not claiming your daughter?    Is this a divorce or separated parents situation and the other parent that does not live with the child claiming the dependent?   

If that is the case then there is a way to do that.

[macuser_22 · Accepted solution]

No.  You must be able to claim as a dependent.  If you can claim her, even if you do not, then she is not allowed to claim herself.

While nobody can be compelled to claim a dependent, a dependent cannot claim them self if they can be claimed by another tax payer - the tax law does not allow that.

That is why there are two questions in the interview - *can* you be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer, and *were* you (or will you) actually be claimed by that taxpayer?

In both cases the dependent will not get their own $4,050 personal exemption. If the answer to the second question is "yes" then the taxpayer claiming the dependent gets it, if the answer is "no" the exemption is lost, but the dependent is then allowed to claim certain educational credits that cannot be claimed by a dependent if they are actually claimed.

See IRS Pub 17 Personal Exemptions - Your Own Exemption
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch03.html#en_US_2016_publink1000170848

You can take one exemption for yourself unless you can be claimed as a dependent by another taxpayer. If another taxpayer is entitled to claim you as a dependent, you can’t take an exemption for yourself even if the other taxpayer doesn't actually claim you as a dependent.

[amberscox]

Thank you for your help!

[jsmith65]

Per the IRS you can claim Head of Household with a Qualifying Child...

• The child must be your biological child, stepchild, foster child, sibling, step sibling, half sibling, or a descendant (child, grandchild, great grandchild, etc.) of one of these relatives.
• The child must have lived within your home for more than six months during the tax year.
• The child needs to be younger than you.
• As of the end of the tax year, the child must be under 19 if he is not a student, or under 24 if he is a full-time college student.
• The child must not have paid for more than half of his living expenses during the tax year.

You can meet those criteria without the child being a dependent.

[xmasbaby0]

<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2900097-what-is-a-qualifying-person-for-head-of-household">https:/...>

[macuser_22]

@jsmith65 - That is not correct.  There is more criteria in addition to that.

To claim HOH you must be able to claim a Qualifying child as a dependent.  See footnote 2 in table 2-1 in Pub 17.
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.irs.gov/publications/p17#en_US_2017_publink1000170821">https://www.irs.gov/publications/...>

The exception when HOH can be claimed without also claiming the dependent is when the special rules for divorced or separated parents that have lives apart for then last 6 months of the year applies.   In  that case, if the custodial parent is releasing the child exemption (dependent) to the other parent that did not live with the child, then  the custodial parent can still claim HOH, even without claiming the dependent, but the dependent is STILL claimed as a dependent by the other parent.  In all other cases, claiming HOH required that the dependent  must be claimed.

[nitsosranch]

 can I claim my 21 yr old son as a dependent he worked and earned 18000.00 or does he file seperate

[macuser_22]

@nitsosranch - Please ask a new question of your own.   This thread is about Head of Household and is off topic for your question.