Head of Household
On last year's taxes (tax year 2023) I was able to claim Head of Household by entering the child's name as a Qualifying person but not claiming them as a Dependent. This year I cannot find how/where the software lets me do that. It looks like I either have to claim the child as a dependent or I cannot claim Head of Household. Am I missing something?
Help!
Answers
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I found a post that may answer your question:
"Generally, to file head of household status, you must be able to claim a qualifying child or qualifying relative as a dependent. If you are able to prove you provide more than half the cost of maintaining the home, you may qualify to claim this status.In this case, your daughter would have to file as a dependent. Additionally, she would not be able to claim her child as a dependent because a dependent can't claim a dependent on their own tax return.
The IRS has a useful survey where you can enter more information regarding your situation to see your recommended filing status. I will link that below.
https://www.irs.gov/help/ita/what-is-my-filing-status"
and
"Generally, a qualifying person must be a dependent in order to claim head of household status.The only times that is not true is when the custodial parent signs Form 8332, which is a release to the noncustodial parent allowing them to claim the child as a dependent. This allows the noncustodial parent the child tax credit while maintaining head of household status for the custodial parent.
Form 8332 doesn't apply to anyone but the parents. Grandparents can claim a grandchild as a dependent and (as long as the child is a dependent) use the grandchild as the qualifying person for claiming head of household status. However, they cannot split claiming head of household with claiming a grandchild as a dependent."
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