Proving Head of Household....?

Question

How do I prove that I provide over half of the support for a child. I live with my fiance and pay half of everything. I also pay for clothing, etc. for the child. I am really her sole provider, but having a hard time proving it. I mean my receipts aren't split in half, so what do I do????

I just want to add that this child was placed with me thru a state agency, she is my sister. I don't understand why I have to go thru all of this, I am her sole custodian.

I think I will just give up on this refund for this year, next year I won't have to go thru this, because I won't qualify for EIC....

Dan- thanks for the response, but that is the problem...I did claim it thinking it was okay and now I'm under audit and have to prove it.

Thanks everyone for the information! I think I need professional help, but can't afford it. I am under audit and the HOH status, EIC, and dependency excemption needs to be proved. I'm still unclear how to do this, but I will be faxing the IRS about 40 pages tomorrow and they can figure it out.

Answer 1

There's a worksheet on page 32 of IRS Publication 17 to calculate total support - you can download it at irs.gov

Agreed it's not real easy to come up with precise numbers for support - a lot of money is probably spent a few dollars at a time, and you probably didn't keep records of the t-shirts or McDonalds-burgers you bought for her.

It doesn't sound like the question is whether you can claim her as a dependent, but whether you qualify for head of household filing status. Those are two separate issues. H of H status requires a dependent (which you have) but also paying over half of the expenses of keeping up a HOME for that dependent - since you live with your fiance, that's not so clear, and it sounds like that's what they are questioning. Providing over half of HER support doesn't prove that you provide over half the cost of keeping up the HOME.

Even if your head of household claim is denied, you would still get your EIC as long as your claim to her as a qualifying child isn't denied. And for that, you don't have to prove that you provided over half of her support, just that SHE didn't provide over half of her OWN support.

Good luck. If you have already told the IRS that you and your fiance split all the bills evenly, you probably won't get the head of household status - that requires that you pay MORE than half of the cost of keeping up the home. But as long as you can claim her as a qualifying child, and it sounds like you can, then you'd still get her exemption, the child tax credit if she is under 17, and the EIC

Answer 2

If you are the court appointed custodian, then you have every right to claim her. You are responsible for her support, and as you said, you provide everything.
Go ahead and claim the deduction.

Answer 3

Provide the court documents showing that the state placed her with you, school records, Dr Records, showing that she resides with you, Also a letter from a family Pastor or Priest.