My Adult Nephew (my twin sisters son) lives with me and files his own taxes. He pays me rent to live with me, which is way less than half of the household bills. Can I file Head of Household?
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Most likely, no. In your situation (nephew living with you), he would have to qualify as your dependent. And that's unlikely if he files his own taxes.*
The main requirements for Head of Household are: a taxpayer that
1) is single or did not live with their spouse at any time during the last half of the tax year.
2) has at least one closely related dependent (usually a child) that lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year
3) pays over half of the support of the household expenses, including rent / mortgage, utilities, food.
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/guide-to-filing-taxes-as-head-of-household/L4Nx6DYu9
*It's possible that he may still qualify as your "qualifying child" dependent.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.
The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.
A child closely related (nephew qualifies) to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:
See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...
The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf
Most likely, no. In your situation (nephew living with you), he would have to qualify as your dependent. And that's unlikely if he files his own taxes.*
The main requirements for Head of Household are: a taxpayer that
1) is single or did not live with their spouse at any time during the last half of the tax year.
2) has at least one closely related dependent (usually a child) that lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year
3) pays over half of the support of the household expenses, including rent / mortgage, utilities, food.
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/family/guide-to-filing-taxes-as-head-of-household/L4Nx6DYu9
*It's possible that he may still qualify as your "qualifying child" dependent.
There are two types of dependents, "Qualifying Children"(QC) and Other ("Qualifying Relative" in IRS parlance even though they don't have to actually be related). There is no income limit for a QC but there is an age limit, student status, a relationship test and residence test. Only a QC qualifies a taxpayer for the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit. They are interrelated but the rules are different for each.
The support test is different for each type. The support test, for a QC, is only that the child didn't provide more than half his own support. The support test for a Qualifying Relative is that the taxpayer provided more than half the relative's support.
A child closely related (nephew qualifies) to a taxpayer can be a “Qualifying Child (QC)” dependent, regardless of the child's income, if:
See full dependent rules at: https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tools/tax-tips/Family/Rules-for-Claiming-a-Dependent-on-Your-Tax-Ret...
The IRS has a worksheet that can be used to help with the support calculation. See: http://apps.irs.gov/app/vita/content/globalmedia/teacher/worksheet_for_determining_support_4012.pdf
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