Qualifying person does not show up on my tax return

Question

Hello.  I have taken the dependent and qualifying person test and it was determined that my son qualifies as a qualifying person therefore I am allowed to claim HOH.  He was 19 last year, made over $5050 but I provided over 50% of his support.  Where does this information show up on my tax return?  I know his name will not show up under my dependents but is there anywhere else that this information should show up?  When I reviewed my tax return before e-filing, I did not see his information anywhere so I am concerned that this may raise a red flag with the IRS since I am claiming HOH.  He is also filing a tax return but he indicated that he will be claimed by someone else, which is me. I hope I make sense.  Thank you

kiarab · Answer

Hello,

To be your qualifying person for the Head of Household status, they generally need to be either your qualifying child or your qualifying relative.

To be a qualifying child, they need to your child (check), they need to be under the age of 19 or under 24 if they are a student (you didn’t say), they must have lived with you for half of the year (didn’t say and there are some exceptions), and they can’t have provided half of their support (check).

To be a qualifying relative, they need to not be a qualifying child (unknown), they need to be related to you or spend all year with you (check), their income needs to be less than $5,050 (doesn’t qualify), and you need to provide more than half of their support (check)

Page 10 and 12:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

So if your son turned 19 and didn’t go to school, then he wouldn’t be your qualifying person because he made more than 5,050. If he did go to school, then it is likely that he does qualify. If the software isn’t showing him, then I would recommend that you contact support. It may be that something was answered incorrectly in the software.

joyful88 · Answer

https://community.freetaxusa.com/discussion/2044/qualifying-person-does-not-show-up-on-my-tax-return

Hi there, What was your outcome with this? I'm having the same issues. I feel like this happened to me last year also, but when I actually filed, my son's name showed up, under the non-dependent line in the Filing Status area for HOH. Different tax software ask different questions so I'm really confused. I'm not sure why we can still claim HOH here if we answered something that wouldn't allow it. Ugh, I hate tax season.

JMSSGV · Answer

If you son was not a full-time student, he would not be your dependent for purposes of the Credit for Other Dependents or for Head of Household. A child over 18 who is not a full-time student cannot be claimed if his or her income exceeds the annual limit ($5,050 for 2025.)

A full-time student means he was a full-time student for at least some part of any five months of the year. If he did meet this requirement, you should go back and check your answers to the questions regarding dependents.