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March 12, 2022
Question

If my son, his wife and newborn baby live with me, and I pay all household expenses, can I claim Head of Household?

  • March 12, 2022
  • 2 replies
  • 0 views

Edit-  Thank you everyone.  I guess I'll be filing single..  now I owe money. 😞

2 replies

DoninGA
Employee
March 12, 2022

It depends. 

Are they filing a joint tax return and claiming their child on the return.  Do either or both of the adults have gross income in 2021 of $4,300 or more?

mdl552Author
March 12, 2022

Yes, they are filling a joint return and claiming her. 

DoninGA
Employee
March 12, 2022

@mdl552 wrote:

Yes, they are filling a joint return and claiming her. 


Then you cannot claim any of them on your tax return.  If you have no other dependents to claim on your tax return you cannot have Head of Household filing status.

 

See this TurboTax support FAQ for Head of Household - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/family/help/do-i-qualify-for-head-of-household/00/25539

March 12, 2022

You can Claim Head of Household if you pay more than 50% of all of thier support.  And they are letting you claim them as your dependents.  

DoninGA
Employee
March 12, 2022

@lgh19 wrote:

You can Claim Head of Household if you pay more than 50% of all of thier support.  And they are letting you claim them as your dependents.  


As was stated they are filing their own tax return and claiming the child on their return.  

The OP cannot claim the grandchild as a dependent since the child is being claimed by the parents.  The OP cannot claim the parents since they are filing a joint tax return.   Qualifying Relative rules apply -

 

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 $4,300 (social security does not count) in 2021
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.