What document can I send the IRS to prove that I paid for all the bills at my mother's residence?

Question

I had two dependents (mother and my nephew) that I claimed, and my filing status was "Head of Household" for the tax year of '05. My return has been examined, and the IRS is stating that I do not fall under the "Head of Household" status. Is there a form or letter that I can send the IRS to prove this. I paid all the bills and assisted my dependents with cash, but none of the bills or the residence is under my name. My mother did not work that year, and my nephew is under 5 yrs old, thus, they could not provide for anything. This is the first year that I file this status. My mother worked for 2004 and my nephew was not living with us prior to this. Thank you.

Correction: I DO fall under the "Head of Household" guidelines, but I need something to state that I provided more than 1/2 of all help for the residence.

Answer 1

Does not sound like there is much you can do if your name is not on anything.
There is no way for you to PROVE that you paid them unless you paid by checks with your name on them and to who they were paid to.

Answer 2

First of all, can anyone else claim your mother or nephew as a dependent, because that will determine if you can indeed claim them as a dependent. If you look on the IRS website for Publication 17, that should help. That publication is the tax guideline handbook. Also, contact your local IRS office for some guidelines here. Probably what they are going to want is like everyone else is saying, check stubs or something that they can look at such as bank statements and maybe copies of your mom's bills, such as electric, phone, etc. That way they can match up what was taken out of your account with what was paid on your mom's bills. If you can, buy yourself either Microsoft Money or Quicken and name an account after your mother to keep track of all your expenditures. It probably would not hurt to have your mother write a letter that you can send to the IRS with some supporting documentation.

Answer 3

If you paid the bills by check, you can show your bank records. If you paid cash to your mother, did she claim it as income? Was your mother receiving any other financial assistance (i.e. unemployment, welfare, social security, etc., and did SHE taxes? Did anyone else claim either your mother or your nephew as dependents on their tax return?

Take a look first at the IRS site, http://www.irs.govand search for documentation showing the requirements to file as head of household. According to the site, generally, you may claim head of household filing status on your tax return only if you are unmarried and pay more than 50% of the costs of keeping up a home for yourself and your dependent(s) or other qualifying individuals.


You are probably going to want to see a professional tax preparer to discuss your options.

Answer 4

Assisting your dependents with cash for their personal expenses does not count toward maintenance of the home. The fact that other household members had no taxable income doesn't prove that you paid expenses. So I wouldn't mention these points in your response to the IRS.

The utilities and house do not have to be in your name to pay the monthly bills. Utility companies and mortgage lenders will accept payment from you.

Send the IRS proof of payment of the following:

Real estate taxes
Homeowners Insurance
Mortgage or rent (if home is owned, do not include rental value)
Utility charges
House repairs
Food consumed at home (your credit card receipts from the grocery store)

An argument that you gave your mother cash and she paid the bills will not be acceptable, since your mother could have paid personal expenses with any cash from you instead of using the cash you provided to maintain the home.

Answer 5

Send copies of canceled checks for all the bills you paid. Provide a joint custody or tempers custody order on the 5 year old nephew, and have your mother and her doctor document that you are her medical power of attorney, also your mother must get her lawyer to draw up papers and she must sign them granting you complete power of attorney over her finances. It is very hard to establish a head of household status under the conditions but try to do it this way . ask for an appeal and a hearing.

Answer 6

make copies of all the household bills (taxes, mortgage, insurance, utilities) and send to IRS with proof for each bill that you paid them. You don't say if the IRS is disagreeing based on a correspondence audit or field audit.

Answer 7

You need to present banking records that show you paid these bills with your income. This would mean your own bank account with checks made out for the bills, or if you paid from her account then evidence of depostis coming from your checks to fund the bills. Either of these should do. But if you did not leave any such paper trail, you are out of luck.

Answer 8

You need to look under the conditions in which you're allowed to file "Head of Household".