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Need help please- Difficult tax situation - Head of Household/Widower?

  • Seeking help from tax professionals: My sister and her 2 young children (5,3) live with me - do I need to claim all of them on my taxes? I've done some research on my own, but can't find an example on the IRS website that fits our situation. I am Head of Household (single) and have 1 child (14) and work full time. She is a widow - her husband passed away in 2009 and collects SS and works part time. She moved in with me in Sept 2010, but she owns a house (in the same state, 300 miles away) that she has been unable to sell. She was able to rent it out in Oct 2011. My tax person said last year that I would need to claim them on my 2011 taxes since they would be living with me for more than 6 months in 2011, but does it matter that she technically owned her own house that she could have been living in for 9 months of 2011? Someone else told me that since she's a widow that supersedes the head of household and she would be able to file as widow and claim herself & the kids and that I could file as HoH and claim myself & my child. So, who is right? I would rather file our taxes separately, but want to file correctly. I want to get my taxes done as soon as possible, but if my tax person is wrong, I'll get them done somewhere else. Thank you in advance for any advice. The "someone else" was another tax person, from a different company. So, they are both trustworthy sources in my mind, just trying to pick which one to go to get my taxes done ~ the person I've been going to for years, or the other company. I paid all the bills for my house - mortgage, utilities, etc. My sister chipped in for the amount that my bills increased due to 3 more people living in the house (~$1000/yr), but we both buy groceries and such and don't keep track of who spends what as far as that goes - it is a trade-off.

  • Answer:

    "and collects SS and works part time" "She was able to rent it (a house she owns) out in Oct 2011" I am going to assume her income was above the limit and you cannot claim them. She would be an independent "household" living under the same roof. Just because more than one person lives under the same roof, does NOT make them part of the same household for tax purposes. _______________________ @Quick Answers "Your sister can't file HOH for a house that is 300 miles away" Owning a house means NOTHING for HOH. HOH means you are the provider for yorself and any applicable dependents.

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Fire your "tax person." He or she is an idiot. You are never "required" to claim anyone as a dependent. Nor can you ever file a "joint" return with a sibling as he or she seems to be implying. If your sister's gross income for 2011 was more than $3,700 (excluding only non-taxable Social Security), you can't claim her or her children as dependents. End of discussion. You file your own return and claim your child only. If you paid more than half of the cost of maintaining the home, you file as Head of Household. She files her return as Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child and claims her 2 children.

Bostonian In MO

Fire your "tax person." He or she is an idiot. You are never "required" to claim anyone as a dependent. Nor can you ever file a "joint" return with a sibling as he or she seems to be implying. If your sister's gross income for 2011 was more than $3,700 (excluding only non-taxable Social Security), you can't claim her or her children as dependents. End of discussion. You file your own return and claim your child only. If you paid more than half of the cost of maintaining the home, you file as Head of Household. She files her return as Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child and claims her 2 children.

Bostonian In MO

"and collects SS and works part time" "She was able to rent it (a house she owns) out in Oct 2011" I am going to assume her income was above the limit and you cannot claim them. She would be an independent "household" living under the same roof. Just because more than one person lives under the same roof, does NOT make them part of the same household for tax purposes. _______________________ @Quick Answers "Your sister can't file HOH for a house that is 300 miles away" Owning a house means NOTHING for HOH. HOH means you are the provider for yorself and any applicable dependents.

Herrmann

You sister "worked" part time and had "rental income" from October to December 2011. She has to declare that on her own return. If you'd like more information please write me, I'm a preparer: [email protected] Good luck

Great Returns 3x

You sister "worked" part time and had "rental income" from October to December 2011. She has to declare that on her own return. If you'd like more information please write me, I'm a preparer: [email protected] Good luck

"Someone...told me" is usually the start of an incorrect statement. Your tax person may or may not be right about your claiming them in 2011 as dependent on your return. Without knowing your sister's income and who paid the bills, we can't tell as you didn't give enough facts. Your sister can't file HOH for a house that is 300 miles away. She lives with you. She'd only be eligible for HOH if she paid more than half the bills of keeping up the houses she lived in. Paying the mortgage on a house she doesn't live in doesn't count. You, in turn, can only claim HOH if YOU paid more than half the bills for your house. If sis is chipping in, run the numbers. You find you are single. As for sis, before we go off the deep end about qualifying widow, answer the following: 1. How much income, list wages and the SS separately. 2. By SS you mean survivor benefits, not SSI, right? 3. When did her husband die? "I would rather file our taxes separately" well, yeah, you have to as she isn't your wife. Based on all info you did (or rather didn't) give, sis files with her kids as either single or, if hubby died in 2009 or 2010, qualifying widower. Sis cannot file as HOH--she is NOT a separate household within your household.

Quick Answers

"Someone...told me" is usually the start of an incorrect statement. Your tax person may or may not be right about your claiming them in 2011 as dependent on your return. Without knowing your sister's income and who paid the bills, we can't tell as you didn't give enough facts. Your sister can't file HOH for a house that is 300 miles away. She lives with you. She'd only be eligible for HOH if she paid more than half the bills of keeping up the houses she lived in. Paying the mortgage on a house she doesn't live in doesn't count. You, in turn, can only claim HOH if YOU paid more than half the bills for your house. If sis is chipping in, run the numbers. You find you are single. As for sis, before we go off the deep end about qualifying widow, answer the following: 1. How much income, list wages and the SS separately. 2. By SS you mean survivor benefits, not SSI, right? 3. When did her husband die? "I would rather file our taxes separately" well, yeah, you have to as she isn't your wife. Based on all info you did (or rather didn't) give, sis files with her kids as either single or, if hubby died in 2009 or 2010, qualifying widower. Sis cannot file as HOH--she is NOT a separate household within your household.

Quick Answers

Hang on, go make an appt. with a tax professional!

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Hang on, go make an appt. with a tax professional!

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