People desperate for money may get more than they barganed for

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People are so desperate for money these days that I am seeing this problem a lot at work. People are thinking they can claim Head of Household when they do not qualify for that filing status. In order to claim Head of Household you must have a qualifying child or relative living with you the entire year and you must support them over 50% A qualifying child is your daughter,son,step daughter, or step son that is 18 or younger and and still attending school or 19-24 and attending school. A qualifying relative would be mother, father, brother, sister, or grandparent or a decendant of those which would include nieces, nephews, and grandchildren not cousins. Just because you have someone living in your house (and it has to be your house that you rent or are buying or own) this does not make you Head of Household, just because you own the house you are living in doesn't make you Head of Household. The IRS has strict guidelines to filing status. The punishment for a fraudulent return (claiming the wrong filing status is a fraudulent return) is up to 5 years in prison (it is a felony) and/or $250,000 in fines not a slap on the wrist. Please do take great care when filing your taxes as the IRS is doing more and more audits every year and this year in particular. Here is a chart that you can use to determine if you qualify for Head of Household status. If the person is your . . . AND . . . THEN that person is . . . qualifying child (such as a son, he or she is single a qualifying person, whether or daughter, or grandchild who lived with not you can claim an exemption you more than half the year and meets for the person. certain other tests)2 he or she is married and you can claim an a qualifying person. exemption for him or her he or she is married and you cannot claim not a qualifying person.3 an exemption for him or her qualifying relative4 who is your father or you can claim an exemption for him or her5 a qualifying person.6 mother you cannot claim an exemption for him or not a qualifying person. her qualifying relative4 other than your father he or she lived with you more than half the a qualifying person. or mother (such as a grandparent, year, and he or she is related to you in one brother, or sister who meets certain of the ways listed under Relatives who do tests) not have to live with you in chapter 3 and you can claim an exemption for him or her5 he or she did not live with you more than half not a qualifying person. the year he or she is not related to you in one of the not a qualifying person. ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with you in chapter 3 and is your qualifying relative only because he or she lived with you all year as a member of your household you cannot claim an exemption for him or not a qualifying person. her 1A person cannot qualify more than one taxpayer to use the head of household filing status for the year. 2The term “qualifying child” is defined in chapter 3. Note. If you are a noncustodial parent, the term “qualifying child” for head of household filing status does not include a child who is your qualifying child for exemption purposes only because of the rules described under Children of divorced or separated parents under Qualifying Child in chapter 3. If you are the custodial parent and those rules apply, the child generally is your qualifying child for head of household filing status even though the child is not a qualifying child for whom you can claim an exemption. 3This person is a qualifying person if the only reason you cannot claim the exemption is that you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return. 4The term “qualifying relative” is defined in chapter 3. 5If you can claim an exemption for a person only because of a multiple support agreement, that person is not a qualifying person. See Multiple Support Agreement in chapter 3. 6See Special rule for parent for an additional requirement. Chapter