I am doing taxes for a friend. Last year, he used H&R Block and filed as head of household. He claimed his 19 year old girlfriend as a dependent. I would have thought he would not be able to do that. Instead, I thought they would have to file separate raturns for each of them. She was in school part time in 2006 but was not in school in 2007.

Is it legal for him to file as head of household and claim his 20 year olg girlfriend as a dependent or should they be filing separate returns?

Please educate me on this.

Thanks!

She is an adult, he can't legally claim her as a dependent.

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Originally Posted by progunr

She is an adult, he can't legally claim her as a dependent.

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Progunr is right - but for the wrong reason. To file as HoH and claim someone as a dependent requires that the person is either a "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative," which means the GF must be this fellow's child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or in-law. The GF does not qualify - unless there's something really kinky going on ;)

I Agree You Can't Claim Your Girlfriend They Need To File Separate. Like A 1040 Ez.

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Originally Posted by ebaines

Progunr is right - but for the wrong reason. To file as HoH and claim someone as a dependent requires that the person is either a "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative," which means the GF must be this fellow's child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or in-law. The GF does not qualify - unless there's something really kinky going on ;)

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Well they do live in Apache Junction. If you know about AZ and the Phoenix area that comment may apply! Ha

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Originally Posted by ebaines

Progunr is right - but for the wrong reason. To file as HoH and claim someone as a dependent requires that the person is either a "qualifying child" or a "qualifying relative," which means the GF must be this fellow's child, sibling, parent, grandparent, or in-law. The GF does not qualify - unless there's something really kinky going on ;)

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Progunr is right. You could have just left it with that. Because I assumed that his girlfriend
Was not a relative, makes my answer right, but for the wrong reason? OK.

Sorry Progunr - perhaps I was splitting hairs, but what you said was "she is an adult, he can't legally claim her as a dependent," which could be misinterpreted to mean that if the GF was, say, 17 years old he could claim her. That would be incorrect.

He may be able to claim her as a dependent:
A qualifying "relative" does not have to be related.
They have to (1) not be the qualifying child of the taxpayer, (2) must live with the taxpayer for the entire year as a member of the taxpayer's household, (3) have an adjusted gross income of less than $3,400 and (4) the taxpayer must provide more than half of the dependents total support for the tax year.

Many things are not what they appear to be. Ask the right questions and you might get the right answer.

So to clarify all this - the boy friend can claim the GF as a dependent under the rules as a "qualifying relative," but he can not file as Head of Household since the qualifying relative is not a qualifying person for HoH purposes. Bottom line - he should file as single with one dependent. Agreed?

No - he can claim head of houshold if she meets all of the criteria for dependency. She is then a qualifying person. I had a tax professor years ago that said if you try to use logic to figure out tax law most often you will be wrong.

NO, he CAN'T file as head of household. She is not a qualifying person. A qualifying person has to be your qualifying child, relative or parents. Read this for more on qualifying person:

Tax News: Who is a Head of Household?

Publication 501 (2007), Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

It's a little confusing this year as far as claiming HOH because of a "qualifying relative"

Technically she is a qualfied relative this year. They changed the rules and added the word must be related OR someone who has lived in your household for the whole year. BUT that only applies to claiming her as a depedent.
If you look at who is a qualifying child/qualifying relative under Head of Household, about 1/4 of the way down the web page the second to last paragraph on the chart excludes the girlfriend because she only qualified as a "relative" because she lived there and is not related.

Go about 1/3 of the way down the page and it will explain the four requirements of even claiming her as a "qualifying relative dependent"
1. She cannot be claimed as a dependent by anyone else
2. She must have lived in the household the whole year and it cannot violate any laws
3. She must not have earned over $3400
4. You must prove that you supported her over 50%

So he can file single and claim her as a dependent if all 4 of the requirements for being a dependent are met.

The requirement for a Qualifying relative for claiming as a Dependent are different from qualifying relative for head of household.

That's what I was trying to point out in my answer and what and why the differences were

Criteria for claiming a dependent are different from qualifying relative for filing as head of household.

The girl friend can be a dependent if she lived with you for all year and did not earn more than $3,400 in 2007.
Read under Qualifying relative: Read: Your Tax Return: Requirements for claiming a dependent

A girl friend can not make you head of household as she is not a relative as per the list by IRS. Read under head of household: Your Tax Return: Filing Status for Married

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Originally Posted by Lon

No - he can claim head of houshold if she meets all of the criteria for dependency. She is then a qualifying person.

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Not so. Please see Pub 501, Table 4, "Who Is a Qualifying Person Qualifying You To File as Head of Household?"

IF the person is your .. . Qualifying relative other than your father or mother
AND... he or she is not related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with you and is your qualifying relative only because he or she lived with you all year as a member of your household
THEN that person is... Not a qualifying person.

This describes the OP's girlfriend. She is a qualifying relative for dependency purposes, but not a qualifyng person for HoH purposes.

This so confusing that I bet the IRS has a hard time figuring out their own rules, and so if the OP filed as HoH they may never catch up with it.

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf

It seems mobea is right

Can I Claim My Live In Girlfriend On My Fed. Income Tax If She Did... - Blurtit

This answer is incorrect. A person does not have to be a minor or be a relative to be a dependent. Age actually has nothing to do with it, so the comment that says "no she is an adult" is ridiculous and unsubstantiated. Valid questions are do you support her? Does she live with you? How much does she make, if anything?

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Originally Posted by eet

This answer is incorrect. A person does not have to be a minor or be a relative to be a dependant. Age actually has nothing to do with it, so the comment that says "no she is an adult" is rediculous and unsubstantiated. Valid questions are do you support her? Does she live with you? How much does she make, if anything?

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Eet - this thread is over 4 years old, and was not about whether the GF is a dependent or not, but rather whether he could file as HoH. And yes, the relation does indeed matter for filing as HoH.

I am single, work full time, and own my home. My girlfriend and her son live with me. She does not work and I support them both. She has a student loan in default. If I claim her and her son as dependants ( I support them both 100%, she has zero income, etc.), can the IRS take my tax refund because of her defaulted loan?