Question

Senior head of household credit for California

Forum|Forum|3 years ago
February 24, 2023
2 replies
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How can I get Senior head of household credit for my mom? Does she need to qualify for all 4 point? She is filling Married filling separately but my dad live in the same house not dead. She so qualifies for all except #3 can she still qualify for this credit. Thanks

All of the following must apply:

You’re 65 or older on December 31 of the tax year
You qualified as head of household for at least 1 of the past 2 years
Your qualifying person died in the past 2 years
Your income is less than $89,931

leeloo

No. The instructions say that all the conditions must be met. It seems as if she did not qualify in the prior years either (#2), as her husband is still alive.

T

tmunoz

Head of Household is a filing status for federal and California returns for people who are not married and provide more than 50% of the household support for a qualifying person, such as a child or relative. It gives a higher standard deduction than filing single or one person married filing separately. Your spouse cannot be your qualifying relative. They have their own standard deduction if filing separately, or together a higher deduction if filing jointly.

Your mom would not qualify for Head of Household as a filing status, which is a requirement for the Senior Head of Household Credit.

To qualify for Head of Household in California you must meet all of the following on December 31 of the tax year:

You were unmarried, considered unmarried, or not in a registered domestic partnership
You have a qualifying child or relative
Your qualifying person lived with you for more than 183 days in the year
You paid more than ½ the costs for maintaining a home
You were a U.S. citizen or legal resident for the whole year

C

CP01Author

Thanks for responding. Can I claim my dad as he doesn't receive much social security.

T

tmunoz

It depends, to qualify as a relative for you to claim Head of Household filing status in the federal return, a qualifying relative could be:

Your mother or father, if you're qualified to claim them as a dependent (even if you're not claiming them as such)

To be able to claim them as a dependent:

Your parent must first meet income requirements set by the Internal Revenue Service to be claimed as your dependent.

Your parent must not have earned or received more than the gross income test limit for the tax year.
The gross income limit for 2022 is $4,400.
Generally, you do not count Social Security income, but there are exceptions. If your parent has other income from interest or dividends, a portion of the Social Security may also be taxable.
You must provide more than half of the person's total support for the year.

This TurboTax Help article has more information about claiming a parent as a dependent.