Qualifying Surviving Spouse (QSS) filing status with an adult child dependent - eligibility questions
I'm trying to figure out if my brother could qualify for QSS status for 2022 and 2023 tax returns. My sister-in-law passed away in 2021, and they filed MFJ for 2021. My niece (their daughter) still lives with my brother. She's 31 years old. In 2021, my niece was working so wasn't claimed as a dependent. But in 2022, she didn't work at all, and they filed as HOH with her as a dependent since she had zero income. Should this have been QSS status instead of HOH? For 2023, my niece did work and earned about $6.2k, but I'm not sure if she provided more than 50% of her own support since my brother pays the entire mortgage. Would he still qualify as QSS? Would it depend on if he provided more than 50% support for his daughter even though her income might disqualify her as an actual dependent? I'm thinking we should amend the 2022 return to use QSS, and he might be able to use QSS for 2023 if we determine he paid more than half the cost of maintaining the home. Just want to make sure this thinking is correct before we proceed.
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Brooklyn Knight
You're on the right track! For Qualifying Surviving Spouse (QSS) status, your brother needs to meet several conditions: 1) His spouse died in either of the two preceding tax years (so for 2022/2023, a 2021 death qualifies), 2) He didn't remarry, 3) He has a dependent child/stepchild living with him, and 4) He paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home. For 2022, since your niece had no income and was properly claimed as a dependent, your brother should have qualified for QSS instead of HOH. Definitely consider amending that return since QSS gives the same benefits as Married Filing Jointly. For 2023, it gets trickier. Even if your niece doesn't qualify as a dependent due to her income, your brother can still claim QSS if she meets the definition of a "qualifying person" - meaning he provides more than half the cost of keeping up the home where she lived for the whole year. The key is whether she's a qualifying person, not necessarily a dependent. You'll need to calculate if your brother provided more than half her total support.
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PrinceJoe
•Thank you for the clear explanation! So just to confirm, for 2023, even if my niece makes too much to be claimed as a dependent ($6.2k is more than the $4.7k threshold), my brother could still claim QSS as long as he provided more than 50% of her total support AND more than 50% of home maintenance costs? Also, how do we actually calculate "support"? Is it just adding up what he pays for housing, food, utilities, etc. versus what she pays for herself?
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Brooklyn Knight
•For 2023, your niece needs to meet the requirements of a qualifying person for QSS purposes, which is different from being a dependent. The income threshold doesn't directly impact QSS eligibility - what matters is whether your brother maintained the household where she lived for the entire year. If she lives with him and he pays more than half the costs of maintaining the home, he can likely claim QSS. For calculating support, you'll need to add up all expenses: housing (rent/mortgage, property taxes, insurance), utilities, food, clothing, medical expenses, education, and other necessities. Compare what your brother pays versus what your niece pays for herself. If your brother's contribution exceeds 50% of the total, he meets the support test.
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Owen Devar
I had a similar situation trying to figure out all this tax status stuff after my wife passed away. I found this amazing tool at https://taxr.ai that actually analyzed all my documents and explained exactly which filing status I qualified for. It saved me from making a costly mistake! Their system explained that for QSS status, your qualifying person (like your adult child) doesn't necessarily need to be your dependent. They analyzed my mortgage statements, utility bills, and my son's income information to determine I was eligible even though my son had some income that year. Seriously, it took like 2 minutes for the AI to look at everything and give me a complete breakdown of why I qualified for QSS rather than HOH, plus it showed me which deductions I could take. Saved me literally thousands.
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Daniel Rivera
•Wait, does this tool access your actual tax documents? That sounds kinda sketchy tbh. How does it actually work? Is it just some generic advice or does it really look at your specific situation?
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Sophie Footman
•I'm curious about this too. My dad's in a similar situation with my mom passing last year, and we're trying to figure out if he qualifies for QSS with my younger sister still living at home. Did you have to upload a bunch of personal documents to this site? Is it secure?
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Owen Devar
•You upload your documents through their secure system - I was hesitant at first too but it's encrypted and they explain their security right on the site. It's not generic advice - it actually analyzes your specific documents and situation. The AI actually looks at things like how much you paid for housing versus what your qualifying person contributed, and it catches details that would determine whether you qualify for QSS or not. For example, in my case, it noticed that while my son had income, I was still paying 78% of our household expenses which qualified me for QSS.
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Sophie Footman
I just tried taxr.ai after seeing it mentioned here and WOW - it really works! I was struggling with the exact same QSS vs HOH question for my dad. Uploaded his tax docs from last year, my sister's W-2, and some household bills. The tool immediately identified that my dad qualified for QSS status because even though my sister earned about $5.8k last year, my dad still provided over 70% of her total support and maintained the household. It even calculated exactly how much he'd save by filing as QSS instead of HOH. I showed the analysis to his normal tax preparer who completely missed this and she was impressed! We're definitely amending last year's return. Thanks for the recommendation - saved us a headache and about $2,100 in taxes!
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Connor Rupert
If you're still having trouble getting a clear answer on your QSS eligibility, you might want to just call the IRS directly. I did this when I had a similar question last year. I used https://claimyr.com and they got me through to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes when I had been trying for days to get through. The IRS agent I spoke with walked me through the exact requirements for QSS status and confirmed that even if an adult child earns income over the dependent threshold, they can still be a qualifying person for QSS purposes if you provide more than half their support and maintain the household. You can watch how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Totally worth it for peace of mind on something this important, especially since amending returns is involved.
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Molly Hansen
•So this service actually gets you through to a real IRS person? I thought that was impossible these days... Last time I tried calling about a similar issue I was on hold for over 2 hours and then got disconnected. How does this even work?
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Brady Clean
•Sounds like BS to me. Nobody can magically get through the IRS phone system. They have like a 10% answer rate according to that taxpayer advocate report. If this actually worked everyone would be using it. Probably just schedules a callback or something that you could do yourself.
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Connor Rupert
•It really does get you through to a real IRS agent. It uses some kind of system that keeps dialing and navigating the phone tree until it gets through, then it calls you when an agent is on the line. It's not scheduling a callback - you're literally connected to a live agent. The last time I used it, I had tried calling the IRS myself for three days straight without getting through. Used Claimyr and had an IRS agent on the phone within 18 minutes. They have the stats right on their site about average wait times. It's especially useful for complex situations like QSS eligibility where you really need an official answer.
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Brady Clean
Ok I need to eat my words here. After posting my skeptical comment I decided to try Claimyr myself since I've been trying to reach the IRS about a similar filing status question for WEEKS. I was 100% sure this was going to be a waste of time but I was desperate. The service actually worked exactly as described. I got a call back in about 25 minutes with a real IRS agent on the line. She confirmed everything about QSS that people mentioned here - specifically that for 2023, the adult child can be a qualifying person (not dependent) if you maintain the household and provide more than half their total support. She also told me they look closely at QSS claims during processing, so having good documentation of household expenses and support provided is important. Definitely keeping this service in my back pocket for future tax questions.
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Skylar Neal
Something that hasn't been mentioned yet - don't forget that "maintaining a household" has a specific definition for QSS purposes. The IRS considers costs like rent/mortgage, property taxes, utilities, repairs, and food eaten in the home. You don't count things like clothing, education, medical expenses, life insurance, or transportation when determining if you paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home. This is different from the "support test" which does include those things. Also, for QSS status, your qualifying person must live with you for the entire year (except for temporary absences like school, vacation, or hospital stays).
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PrinceJoe
•Thanks for pointing that out! I think I was confusing the "support test" and "maintaining a household" requirements. So for QSS, my brother needs to: 1. Pay more than 50% of household maintenance costs (mortgage, utilities, etc.) 2. Have his daughter live with him the whole year 3. She needs to be a qualifying person But she doesn't necessarily need to be a dependent if she makes too much money? Is that correct?
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Skylar Neal
•That's exactly right. For QSS purposes, the key is that she's a qualifying child who lives in the home he maintains. The income limitation that would prevent her from being claimed as a dependent doesn't prevent her from being a qualifying person for QSS status. The IRS Publication 501 covers this in detail, but essentially if she lived with him all year, he paid more than half the household costs, and she's his child (regardless of age in this case), he meets the QSS requirements - even if she can't be claimed as a dependent due to her income.
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Vincent Bimbach
FYI - I used TurboTax for a similar situation and it specifically asked if I maintained a home for a qualifying person, not just a dependent. The software correctly determined I could use QSS status even though my daughter made too much to be claimed as a dependent. Just make sure whoever does the amended return understands this distinction. Some tax preparers get confused and think QSS requires a dependent, but it actually requires a qualifying person who lives in the home.
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Kelsey Chin
•I had the opposite experience with H&R Block software. It kept forcing me to HOH when I should have qualified for QSS with my adult son. Had to manually override it after talking to an actual tax professional. Which version of TurboTax did you use?
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Vincent Bimbach
•I used TurboTax Deluxe. It asked specific questions about my filing status, my spouse's death date, and whether I maintained a home for a qualifying person. It then guided me through the QSS requirements separately from the dependent questions. The key was answering the household maintenance questions correctly - it specifically asked if I paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home where my qualifying person lived for the entire year. This is separate from whether they qualify as a dependent. Maybe the H&R Block software just doesn't handle this specific situation as well.
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Anthony Young
This is a great discussion! I just wanted to add one more important point that might help with your decision-making process. When calculating whether your brother provided more than half the cost of maintaining the home for QSS purposes, make sure to include ALL qualifying household expenses for the entire year. This includes mortgage payments (principal and interest), property taxes, homeowners insurance, utilities (electric, gas, water, trash), home repairs and maintenance, and food consumed at home. Don't forget about things like HOA fees if applicable, or heating oil/propane if you use those. For 2023 specifically, since your niece earned $6.2k, you'll want to subtract any amount she contributed toward these household expenses from your brother's total. If she paid for groceries, utilities, or any home maintenance costs, those reduce the amount your brother can claim he provided. The good news is that if your brother is paying the entire mortgage and most utilities, he's likely well over the 50% threshold even with her income. Just document everything carefully in case the IRS asks for support during processing.
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Daniel Price
•This is really helpful, thank you! I'm new to navigating these tax situations and this thread has been incredibly informative. One question - when documenting all these household expenses, what's the best way to organize everything for the IRS? Should we create a spreadsheet showing monthly breakdowns, or is there a specific form they prefer? Also, for the food consumed at home calculation, how do you typically separate that from restaurant meals or food eaten outside the house? Do you just estimate based on grocery receipts vs total food expenses? I want to make sure we have everything properly documented before filing the amended return for 2022 and the original 2023 return. Better to be over-prepared than deal with questions later!
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