Your Tax Question - 047(a)

Dear John, I am a single man and one of my sons has come to live with me this year. Last year I filed my taxes as Single but I have been told that I can file as Head of Household this year because he is with me. Plus, my sister and husband are living with me this year due to the downturn in the economy and I have heard that they will be considered my dependents for the year on my tax return. Is this true? Thanks in advance, Bart
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Hi Bart,

Thanks for the question. It seems (off the top of my head) that everything you have been told is correct, but to make sure let’s run through the rules and make sure.

First, the conditions for the Head of Household filing status are as follows.

To file this way the taxpayer must:

1. maintain a home which is the primary residency
a. of a qualifying child(ren) or
b. other qualified dependent(s)

2. OR maintained a separate home for a parent

The conditions for the Head of Household filing status are straight forward but figuring out who is and is not a qualifying child or dependent is an altogether different matter. I will add these details in following posts so as to not overwhelm this one blog post. Click the following link in order to read Your Tax Question – 047(b), this next post explains the rules for who qualifies as a child.