Head of Household question

[brandi50316]

What is the name of your state? Iowa

Any help would be appreciated!! I'm a married female that has been in process of divorce for the last year and a half. We have two children and I've been living with my boyfriend since June of 2007 (didnt live with my husband for all of 2007).

It's tax time and I was trying to file married filing separately and claiming both children but I'm not getting the credits for my children that I thought I'd get. They've lived with me all year (greater than half of the year anyway) and we've agreed to allow me to claim them. My problem is that when i complete teh return I do not get the credit for the children (it appears) unless I file head of household. I contribute to the daily living at my boyfriend's home but doubt that I pay more than half of the costs of living there.

What can I do? Am I forced to file married filing jointly and split the return thus giving him credit for the children that I essentially raised this year? Can I file single even though legally I'm still married? Can I file head of household in hopes that the IRS doesnt question whether I paid half of the upkeep of my home in 2007?

This is all so stressful and I'd appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you for your time.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by brandi50316

What is the name of your state? Iowa

Any help would be appreciated!! I'm a married female that has been in process of divorce for the last year and a half. We have two children and I've been living with my boyfriend since June of 2007 (didnt live with my husband for all of 2007).

It's tax time and I was trying to file married filing separately and claiming both children but I'm not getting the credits for my children that I thought I'd get. They've lived with me all year (greater than half of the year anyway) and we've agreed to allow me to claim them. My problem is that when i complete teh return I do not get the credit for the children (it appears) unless I file head of household. I contribute to the daily living at my boyfriend's home but doubt that I pay more than half of the costs of living there.

What can I do? Am I forced to file married filing jointly and split the return thus giving him credit for the children that I essentially raised this year? Can I file single even though legally I'm still married? Can I file head of household in hopes that the IRS doesnt question whether I paid half of the upkeep of my home in 2007?

This is all so stressful and I'd appreciate any advice I can get. Thank you for your time.

Please use a tax professional this year. Please don't try to do this on your own.

[tuffbrk]

Google the IRS - here's a link as an example...

[url]http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc353.html[/url]

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

She has two choices: married filing jointly or married filing separately since she does NOT qualify for Head of Household

I contribute to the daily living at my boyfriend's home but doubt that I pay more than half of the costs of living there.

She will lose the opportunity for various credits by filing MFS - EIC & child care credit. She retains the right for child tax credit/additional child tax credit.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Ginny J

She has two choices: married filing jointly or married filing separately since she does NOT qualify for Head of Household

She will lose the opportunity for various credits by filing MFS - EIC & child care credit. She retains the right for child tax credit/additional child tax credit.

You are probably correct, but it is possible for her to be head of her own household, even while residing within the boyfriend's house. Its unlikely, but its possible.

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

You can file as head of household even though you do not claim your unmarried dependent child as an exemption if you meet all of the following requirements:

1. You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year.
2. You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. 3. A qualifying person must live with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences such as school).

You would meet items 1 & 3. It's item 2 that is questionable.

Costs you include. Include in the cost of upkeep expenses such as rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, insurance on the home, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home.

These are the items that count.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Ginny J

You would meet items 1 & 3. It's item 2 that is questionable.

These are the items that count.

Again, I agree. However again, its possible for two people to share a residence, but be head of their own households.

A more common example, would be two single females, each with children, who enter into a joint lease for a residence and are each responsible for 1/2 of the rent and utilities. They are each heads of their own household.

Another example would be someone who rents rooms in the home of another, with kitchen privileges. That person would still be head of their own household.

I doubt that a similar situation would exist with someone who is living in the home of their boyfriend, but it could depend on who is responsible for the lease, and how payments are structured.

Any situation that is structured so that someone is responsible for a proportional share of housing costs, based on their usage of the residence, can allow for more than one head of household within a particular residence.

This came out of one of my research classes, for my master's degree....so I am pretty confident of the answer.

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

Ldij, I agree with you on this point. It was just that the OP originally stated that she wasn't paying half or more of the costs of her household. She may want to look at what she is paying for and structure her contributions in a manner to meet the criteria.