Qualifying Child for Head of Household Status
For a child to qualify you for HOH status,
The child must be younger than the taxpayer and either under age 19, under age 24 an a full-time student or any age and permanently and totally disabled and
Lived with taxpayer over half the year and
Did not provide over half of their own support and
Is one of the following: son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, stepbrother/sister, half brother/sister or descendant of any of them.
So, your 23 year old stepsister who is a full time student can qualify you for HOH status if she lives with you over half the year and you provide over half of her support.
While the taxpayer claiming HOH status must be considered unmarried, the qualifying child does not have to be unmarried. The qualifying child can be married, but if you can claim him/her as a dependent, they still qualify, assuming they meet the citizen test and joint return test (which we won’t go into detail here).
Confused yet? You’re not alone.
Qualifying Relative for Head of Household Status is a Parent
Your mother or father can qualify you for HOH status if you can claim him or her as a dependent.
So what does that mean for a parent to qualify as your dependent? They have to meet the following tests:
They can’t be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return.
Generally they can’t file a joint tax return with someone else, unless they are only filing to get a refund and have no tax liability.
They are a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, U.S. resident alien or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
Taxpayer must have paid over half of the cost of keeping up a home for the parent during the year. That includes costs such as rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, homeowner’s insurance, repairs and maintenance of the home, utilities, food eaten in the home and other household expenses. It does not include personal expenses such as clothing, health insurance, transportation costs, etc.
The parent’s gross income must be less than $4,700 in 2023 ($4,400 in 2022 - this amount changes every year). How is gross income determined? Gross income is all income that is not exempt from tax, such as wages, interest, taxable unemployment, taxable social security benefits, etc.
Additionally, for purposes of determining HOH status, a parent does not have to live with the taxpayer, as long as the parent meets the various dependency tests listed above.
So let’s stand back a second. If you are unmarried and are supporting over half the cost of your parent and they either live with you or elsewhere, and their only income is Social Security, chances are you can file your taxes using Head of Household status.
Qualifying Relative for Head of Household Status Other Than a Parent
To claim a relative other than a child or a parent for HOH status, the additional requirements are:
Must be a brother, sister, half brother, half sister, step brother, step sister, niece, nephew, stepbrother or any other person, as long as it does not violate local law.
Must have lived with you over half the year.
To Learn More About Filing Status
The IRS publishes Publication 501, “Dependents, Standard Deduction and Filing Information” for those looking for more detailed information on these topics. For the short version, read the Form 1040 instructions.
