Do I qualify for Head of Household filing status with only 7 months of home costs?

You're asking a good question about the Head of Household filing status. What matters here isn't actually the number of months she maintained her own home, but rather the total costs for maintaining the home during the year. For Head of Household, your cousin needs to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year - this includes rent, mortgage, utilities, groceries, repairs, property taxes, etc. The key is to calculate the TOTAL cost of maintaining her home for the entire period when she and her qualifying dependent lived there (those 7 months), and determine if she paid more than half of those total costs. Since she paid ALL the costs for those 7 months when they had their own place, she would meet this requirement for that home during that time period. The fact that she moved in with her parents later doesn't disqualify her as long as her qualifying dependent (her daughter) continued to live with her at her parents' home too. The qualifying person (her daughter) needs to have lived with her for more than half the year (which sounds like the case), but there's no requirement that they need to live in the same home for the entire year.

I had a very similar situation last year and found that taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) was super helpful in figuring out my Head of Household status. I was confused about the whole "maintaining a home" requirement because I'd moved midyear too. Their system analyzed my situation and confirmed I could claim HOH even though I'd only paid for my own place for part of the year. They looked at all the requirements and explained that since I paid 100% of expenses for the months I had my own place, I'd met the "paid more than half" test for maintaining a home. Saved me from incorrectly filing as Single and missing out on a much better tax situation.

Just wanted to update about my HOH situation and taxr.ai since I mentioned I was in a similar situation. I decided to try it out since I was confused about my eligibility. Their document analysis actually caught something I completely missed - turns out I had been counting some household expenses incorrectly when determining if I paid more than half the costs. The system walked me through exactly which expenses count toward the "maintaining a home" test and how to calculate my portion properly. It showed me that for the 8 months I maintained my own home, I easily passed the "more than half" requirement. Definitely filing HOH this year, which will save me about $2,000 compared to filing Single. The clarity alone was worth it since I was getting conflicting advice from friends and family.

Anyone dealing with tax status questions should try calling the IRS directly. I know that sounds like torture, but I used Claimyr (https://claimyr.com) to get through to them about a similar Head of Household question last year. They have this system that navigates the IRS phone tree and holds your place in line, then calls you when an actual agent is ready to talk. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I got a definitive answer straight from the IRS about my situation (divorced mid-year, wasn't sure about HOH status). The agent confirmed that I could file as HOH since I had custody of my kid and maintained our home for most of the year, even though it wasn't the full year. Way better than guessing or relying on Google!

I have to admit I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment, I decided to try it myself since I had a question about education credits that was driving me crazy. I figured it wouldn't work but was desperate for an answer. It actually connected me to an IRS rep in about 30 minutes! I was shocked. The agent clarified my education credit question and I also asked about this Head of Household situation (since it was being discussed here). They confirmed exactly what others have said - paying for more than half the costs of a home for the months you lived there with a qualifying dependent can satisfy the "maintaining a home" requirement, even if it's not the full year. The certainty of getting info straight from the IRS was such a relief after getting conflicting advice online.

Something else to consider - make sure your cousin's "qualifying dependent" actually meets all the tests. For a child to be a qualifying person for HOH status, they need to: 1. Be your child, stepchild, foster child, sibling, or descendant of any of them 2. Have lived with you for more than half the year 3. Be under 19 at the end of the year (or under 24 if a student), or permanently disabled 4. Not have provided more than half of their own support Most people focus just on the "maintaining a home" part and forget to verify these other requirements!

Lot of good advice here but I wanna add from experience - I alwys mess up when I try to DIY my taxes. Last year I had a similar situation (maintained home for 9 months then moved in w my brother) and I went to H&R Block in person. The tax lady told me I qualify for HOH because the test isn't about how long you maintained the home, it's about whether you paid more than half the costs FOR the home you maintained. Even if it was only part of the year.