Tax question - head of household??

Question

My live-in fiance claimed head of household on his taxes and claimed me as a dependent. I am actually head of household and pay all the bills and rent without assistance from him. I believe I should be able to claim him as a dependent and claim head of household myself. I do not want to get either of us in trouble, but he is getting a large tax return because he filed this claim instead of me. Does anyone know a solution to this situation. Can I claim head of household too and see what happens? Please help, as I think this situation is unfair. Should he get to reap all the benefits because he beat me to the punch?

My live-in fiance claimed head of household on his taxes and claimed me as a dependent. I am actually head of household and pay all the bills and rent without assistance from him. I believe I should be able to claim him as a dependent and claim head of household myself. I do not want to get either of us in trouble, but he is getting a large tax return because he filed this claim instead of me. Does anyone know a solution to this situation. Can I claim head of household too and see what happens? Please help, as I think this situation is unfair. Should he get to reap all the benefits because he beat me to the punch?

I read the definition of head of household, and in my opinion it does apply to me. I have also read the definition of dependent and since I pay for his living, food, etc. I believe this also applies.

Answer 1

You are not going to like the answer since it will cause a problem.

Head of household is reserved for divorce parents where one parent has the child live with them for more than 1/2 year, 1 parent households, or a grandmother raising a grand child living with them.

Claiming HOH for an adult (unless that adult is a full time student under 23 or legally disabled) will earn you both an audit.

Your fiance has no right to claim a child that you have unless the child is his, lived in his household for more than 6 months, and contributed 1/2 the support.

This is the part of the answer you are not going to like. Immediately report the illegal tax return to the IRS or have him file an ammended return. If you signed the document, you will need to do this now not later. Messing around with the IRS is nothing you want to do. I had a husband (got rid of him) who cheated on his taxes and it took me years to fix.

I am being very serious run to the phone and call 1-800-829-1040.

Good luck.

Additional Information - you need to re-read here is the section

Topic 353 - What is Your Filing Status?

Generally, your marital status on the last day of the year determines your status for the entire year.

If you are unmarried, or if you are legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree according to your state law, and you do not qualify for another filing status, your filing status is single.

Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried and you must have paid more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person for more than half the year. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than one half of your tax year of a qualifying person.

If you are married, you and your spouse may file a joint return or separate returns. If your spouse died and you did not remarry in the year that your spouse died, you may still file a joint return for that year. This is the last year for which you may file a joint return with that spouse.

You may be able to file as a qualifying widow or widower for the two years following the year your spouse died. To do this, you must meet all four of the following tests:

You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year he or she died. It does not matter whether you actually filed a joint return,
You did not remarry in the two years following the year your spouse died,
You have a child, stepchild, or adopted child (a foster child does not meet this requirement) for whom you can claim a dependency exemption, and
You paid more than half the cost of maintaining a household that was the main home for you and that child, for the whole year.

After the two years following the year in which your spouse died, you may qualify for head of household status.

More detailed information on each filing status can be found in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.


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Additional Information

Upon further reading on http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#d0e3270

refer to section under qualifying dependents- "You cannot claim a person as a dependent unless that person is your qualifying child or qualifying relative."

If you are not a relative you can not claim him nor can he claim you. Being someones partner does not cut it. If you do not change it you are heading for an audit.

Answer 2

Neither of you, no matter who pays what bills, is allowed to claim head of household based on a live-in fiance. There are certain relatives that can be claimed for h of h status - the IRS has a list in their publications - but fiance isn't one of them.

If either of you made over $3300 in 2006, then the other one can't claim that person as a dependent.

So go ahead and file your own return, but show your status as "single", and if he made over $3300 last year, don't even think about trying to claim him as a dependent. Since he already filed and claimed you as a dependent, you might have to mail your return in since an efile would probably be rejected.

He's not going to reap any benefits. If he gets his refund, which is possible, he'll be paying it back with interest when the IRS catches up to him.

Answer 3

I am divorced and provide a home for my three grandkids, my daughter and her husband. I just found out they filed a joint return (they were married in dec) and claimed the three kids as dependents. Can I still claim head of household? I provide more than half of the kids support.

Answer 4

qualifying widower