Head of Household Filing help! Don't want to mess up reporting my child's income

Quick question - what if my kid made like $75 from a lemonade stand last summer? Do I still put $0 or do I need to report that? And what happens if I just put $0 anyway since it's such a small amount?

For such a small amount like $75 from a lemonade stand, the IRS generally doesn't require reporting it. The tax code has a de minimis concept for very small amounts of income, especially for children's occasional activities like lemonade stands or helping neighbors. If your child had more substantial income - typically $12,950 or more for 2025 - or if they had investment income exceeding $1,250, then reporting requirements would kick in. But for small casual earnings like you described, you can safely enter $0 without concerns.

Does it actually explain the rules in simple terms? The IRS website is so confusing with all the legal jargon. I'm not sure if I qualify for HOH because my son lives with me 5 days every 2 weeks (shared custody). Would this help with that specific situation?

I'm really skeptical about these tax tools. Does it actually guarantee accuracy? What happens if the IRS comes back and says you filed wrong? Do they cover penalties or anything like that?

It definitely breaks down the rules in everyday language - I was super confused about the "keeping up a home" requirement until they explained it means you pay more than half of household expenses like rent, groceries, utilities, etc. For your situation with your son, it would ask exactly how many days he lived with you and do the calculations. As for guarantees, I can't speak to specific policies, but when I used it, they provided a detailed assessment of audit risk and documentation requirements. They gave me a complete report showing why I qualified for HOH status that I saved with my tax records. It definitely gave me peace of mind that I was filing correctly.

Wait, how does this actually work? The IRS phone lines are always jammed. Does this service just keep calling for you or something? Seems too good to be true tbh.

Yeah right. No way this works. I've tried calling the IRS like 15 times this year and never got through. If this actually worked, everyone would be using it. Sounds like a scam to me.

It basically uses an automated system that waits on hold for you. When it finally reaches an agent, you get a call back so you can talk directly to the IRS person. It's not magic - you're still talking to the same IRS agents, but you don't have to be the one listening to hold music for hours. I was skeptical too until I tried it. It's basically like having someone else wait in line for you. And when I used it, I went from being on hold for 2+ hours myself to getting connected in about 22 minutes. Saved me a ton of time and frustration, especially when you're trying to get an answer to something specific like Head of Household requirements.

Thank you for bringing this up! My divorce was finalized in May 2024 so I should be good for the 2025 filing. But that's definitely something important I didn't think about. Did the IRS charge you any penalties or just make you pay the difference?

They only made me pay the difference in taxes between HOH and Married Filing Separately, plus a small amount of interest since I paid after the filing deadline. No penalties since they determined it was an honest mistake rather than deliberate evasion. The IRS actually has a "considered unmarried" provision that might apply in some situations even if you're technically still married on December 31st, but my situation didn't qualify. If your spouse didn't live in your home for the last 6 months of the year, you might still qualify for HOH even if not technically divorced yet.

Absolutely right. The rules for "qualifying person" for HOH are really specific. For a child to qualify, they generally need to be your son, daughter, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, or a descendant of one of these (like a grandchild or niece/nephew). Just having a child live with you isn't enough unless you're related by blood, marriage, or adoption in most cases.