Claiming Head of Household?

Question

Can I claim head of household when my daughter goes to a different school in a different state during the school year and lives with her father during the school year and stays with me only during the summer months. I pay for her clothing and housing, etc.

Answer 1

Don't call the IRS. Get the instructions for Form 1040 from their website, www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf

Go to page 17, and read the instructions for Head of Household. It will tell you if you qualify.

Answer 2

If there's been no recent changes, then the parent that has the child for more than six months, qualifies as head of household for that child. If the child lives six months with one parent.. and six months with the other, both can be recognized as legal head of household taxpayers, by using days to calculate the months.. with 30 days equaling one month. 180 days is equal to six months.. a year equals 360 days; this leaves 5 days to split between both parents.. giving one 182 days and the other 183 days. Losing 2 to 3 days during leap year will cut this pretty close.

I'll probably get in hot water for this, but the fact of the matter is that "head of household" is an ingenious ploy meant to convince us that we are not the head(in control) of our place, based simply on time and money... get it?.. heheh!

Answer 3

Probably not, since she's living with her father for over half of the year. If she was living in a dorm or college apartment, then it would be considered a temporary absence and you'd still be OK, but if she's living with her dad could be a different story. Might come down to whether her dad is claiming her as a dependent.

I'd run this past someone at the IRS. Call sometime when you have plenty of time to stay on hold - they're pretty busy these days.

Answer 4

To file as head of household, you would have to pay over half the costs of the household expenses for the home which is the main home for your child who lived with you for more than six months.

So, no.