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April 28, 2021
Question

Do I need to file a Form 8615 when I am filing as a head of household?

  • April 28, 2021
  • 1 reply
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I am a college student, and I am filing my taxes as head of household. Do I need to file a 8615? Also, for section A it lists me as the child, is that correct.

1 reply

macuser_22
Employee
April 29, 2021

Do you have a related dependent that you can claim to qualify for HOH?

 



https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8615.pdf

Who Must File
Form 8615 must be filed for anyone who meets all of the
following conditions.
1. You had more than $2,100 of unearned income.
2. You are required to file a tax return.
3. You were either:
   a. Under age 18 at the end of 2020,
   b. Age 18 at the end of 2020 and didn’t have earned income
   that was more than half of your support, or
   c. A full-time student at least age 19 and under age 24 at the
   end of 2020 and didn’t have earned income that was more than
   half of your support.
4. At least one of your parents was alive at the end of 2020.
5. You don’t file a joint return for 2020.

 

 

Head of Household is for UNMARRIED taxpayers with a related dependent or married and have not lived with their spouse at anytime during the last 6 months of the tax year AND has a child, stepchild or foster child that can be a dependent.
=======================================
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.

1. You are unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.
(You could be considered unmarried if your spouse did not live in your home at any time during the last 6 months of the tax year).
If you were considered married for part of the year and lived in a community property state, special rules may apply in determining your income and expenses. See Publication 555 for more information.

2. You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

3. A “qualifying person” lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences such as school) - a parent does not have to live with you to be a qualifying person.

4. If the qualifying person is your qualifying relative, their gross income must have been less than $4,300 (do not include non taxable Social Security) and you provided more than 1/2 of their support

5. You must be able to claim the dependent for the qualifying person except in the case of divorced or separated parents (that lived apart) and the noncustodial parent is claiming the dependent.

A Qualifying person is either:
A qualifying child or a qualifying closely related relative and meets certain other requirements, however if you are considered unmarried it can only be your child, stepchild, or foster child.

See IRS Publication 501 for more information about who is a qualifying person and a worksheet to determine the cost of keeping up a home.

See IRS Pub 501 for more information
https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501#en_US_2020_publink1000220779

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**
April 29, 2021

I do have a dependent. 

 

Do I have to file if I meet ALL of the criteria, or just one?

macuser_22
Employee
April 29, 2021

As it says "all".  1-5.

**Disclaimer: This post is for discussion purposes only and is NOT tax advice. The author takes no responsibility for the accuracy of any information in this post.**