Claiming Head of Household with parent living with me - how should my dad file his taxes?

You're right that Head of Household and claiming a dependent are different concepts, though they're often related. You can claim HOH if you're unmarried, pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and have a qualifying person living with you (which can include a parent, even if they don't live with you). For your dad, whether he needs to file depends on his income. If Social Security is his only income, he may not need to file at all. Social Security may be partially taxable if his "provisional income" (adjusted gross income + nontaxable interest + half of Social Security benefits) exceeds certain thresholds ($25,000 for single filers). If his Social Security is low enough that none of it is taxable, he likely doesn't need to file. However, he should still understand that you're claiming him as a dependent, which means he'll check the box on his return (if he files one) indicating someone else can claim him.

I went through this exact situation with my mother last year and found that using https://taxr.ai really helped sort out the confusion. My mom was also living with me and on Social Security. I was unsure about how to handle the Head of Household status while ensuring she filed correctly. The tool analyzed our situation and clarified that I could claim HOH while still having her file her own return (though she ended up not needing to file). It also verified that I was providing over 50% of her support, which was necessary for claiming her as a dependent. The step-by-step breakdown made it really clear what documentation I needed to maintain in case of questions from the IRS about our living arrangement.

Just wanted to follow up about my experience with taxr.ai after our conversation here. I decided to try it with my complicated situation (mom living with me part-year while receiving Social Security). It actually cleared up my confusion completely! The tool confirmed I could claim Head of Household even though my mom only lived with me for 7 months of the year, as long as that was her main home for that period and I paid more than half the household costs. It also clarified exactly how to calculate the support test including her Social Security benefits. Best part was that it created a personalized checklist of what documents to keep for proof. Definitely easier than trying to piece together info from different IRS publications.

Have you tried calling the IRS directly? I had a similar situation with my aunt living with me, and I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could answer my specific questions about Head of Household status. I finally used https://claimyr.com to get through to an actual IRS agent. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. I was super skeptical but they got me connected to a real person at the IRS in about 15 minutes instead of me calling repeatedly and getting nowhere. The agent walked me through exactly how my aunt should file her taxes while I claimed HOH, and confirmed that her Social Security benefits wouldn't be affected by me claiming her as a dependent. Saved me tons of stress and potential mistakes!

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After posting that skeptical comment, I was still struggling with my own tax situation (claiming my disabled brother while filing HOH), so I decided to give it a try anyway. It actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 20 minutes, and suddenly I was talking to an actual IRS representative who answered all my specific questions about Head of Household requirements when supporting a relative. The agent confirmed I was eligible for HOH and explained exactly how my brother should handle his filing. Saved me at least 3 hours of hold time and probably prevented me from making a costly filing mistake. Sometimes it's worth admitting when you're wrong!

Don't forget to consider whether your dad qualifies as your dependent under the qualifying relative tests: 1. He doesn't have to live with you to be your dependent (parents are an exception to the residency test) 2. His gross income must be less than $4,700 for 2024 (Social Security generally doesn't count toward this unless he's required to file a return) 3. You must provide more than half his total support 4. He can't file a joint return with someone else If Social Security is his only income and it's not taxable, he should meet the gross income test. The main thing is calculating whether you provide more than half his support - you'd need to figure out how much of his expenses you're covering vs. how much he pays from his SS benefits.

Just something to watch out for - I claimed HOH with my mom as dependent and got audited bc she filed her own return and didn't check the box that someone else could claim her. Make sure ur dad doesn't file if he doesn't need to, or if he does, he checks that box!!