Am I doing my taxes incorrectly? Single with no dependents confused about tax filing status

You're absolutely doing your taxes correctly. To qualify as Head of Household, you MUST have a qualifying dependent (like a child or parent) that you support AND pay more than half the costs of keeping up a home. You cannot be your own dependent - that's not how it works at all. Your friends are making a serious error that could absolutely result in an audit. The IRS doesn't immediately catch everything, but they absolutely flag returns with suspicious filing statuses, especially when there's no supporting documentation for dependents. What's happening is they're getting bigger refunds because they're paying less tax throughout the year than they should be (by claiming a filing status they don't qualify for). The IRS will eventually catch up with them, and they'll have to pay back those incorrect refunds plus penalties and interest.

I was in almost exactly your situation last year! I kept wondering why my refunds were so small compared to my friends until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) after being frustrated with basic tax advice online. I uploaded my W-2 and answered a few questions, and it immediately flagged that I was using the correct filing status but my withholdings were set perfectly - which is actually a good thing! The tool showed me that my friends who were filing as Head of Household without dependents were likely committing accidental tax fraud. It breaks down all the requirements for each filing status in really simple terms. The analyzer even showed me a few deductions I was missing that added about $340 to my refund!

Ok I have to admit I was skeptical about taxr.ai but I tried it over the weekend and damn, it actually saved me from a huge mistake! I was about to file as HoH like my roommate suggested (I'm single, no kids) but the tool immediately flagged it as incorrect and explained exactly why. The analyzer showed me that I was actually underpaying throughout the year which is why my refunds were small. Instead of filing incorrectly like my friends, I adjusted my W-4 withholdings based on their recommendation. It projected I'll get about $750 back next year while keeping more in each paycheck now! Way better than risking an audit for filing wrong.

Your friends are playing a dangerous game! I accidentally filed HoH one year when I shouldn't have, and the IRS caught it THREE YEARS LATER. I had to pay back the extra refund plus penalties and interest, and it was a nightmare trying to get someone on the phone to sort it out. After dozens of failed attempts to reach the IRS (busy signals, disconnects after hours on hold), I found Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than an hour. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. They basically hold your place in the phone queue and call you when an agent is about to pick up. The agent I spoke with said they're specifically cracking down on incorrect filing status claims, especially head of household without dependents. Your friends are definitely on borrowed time!

Ok I have to eat my words about Claimyr. After getting that CP2000 notice saying I owed $3,200 for filing incorrectly a few years ago, I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS before the deadline. After trying for 2 days and getting nowhere, I used the service. Got a call back in about 45 minutes saying they had an agent on the line. Explained my situation and the agent found that there had been a mistake - I actually only owed about $850 for the incorrect filing status I used (was filing HoH when I should've been single). Saved me thousands and hours of frustration. Still think it's crazy that we need services like this to talk to the government, but it definitely works. Your friends should get their tax situations fixed ASAP before they end up with notices like I did!

the real issue is that the tax system is designed to be confusing af so they can get more money from regular ppl. ur friends are probably cheating the system but the system is already cheating us so 🤷‍♀️ your friends might not get caught cuz the irs is super underfunded and mostly goes after poor people not rich tax cheats. they might be playing the odds but personally id rather do it right and not worry about it tbh

Here's what's probably happening: Your friends are likely filing correctly but adjusting their W-4 withholding to have more taken out during the year. If you want a bigger refund (though it's financially not smart), you can just have extra withholding by filling out your W-4 to take more out of each paycheck. The goal of taxes shouldn't be a big refund - it should be to break even! A big refund just means you gave the government an interest-free loan all year.