HoH and dependents>18yearsofage

[feenberg]

I am going to stop testing HoH returns with age1>18 - it will turn up every state and there is no point in enumerating them. We can discuss on Tuesday. AFAICT HoH status depends on having a dependent, and depx=1 asserts there is a dependent. If a child is 19 and self-supporting, then they shouldn't be listed as a dependent depx should be zero, and there shouldn't be a nonzero age1 value in the dataset.

[PavelMakarchuk]

@feenberg I dug through the references and this is what I found:
IRS Rules

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/2 defines Head of Household and requires a "qualifying child" as defined in section 152(c).

https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:26+section:152+edition:prelim) specifies the age requirements for a qualifying child:

An individual meets the requirements of this paragraph if such individual...

• (A) has not attained the age of 19 as of the close of the calendar year, OR
• is a student who has not attained the age of 24 as of the close of such calendar year

https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501 confirms:
"A child born on January 1, 2006, is considered to be age 19 at the end of 2024"

A 19-year-old who is not a full-time student does not qualify as a "qualifying child" for HOH purposes.

Let me know your thoughts

[feenberg]

Notice below in Section ii "any other person who is a dependent of the taxpayer". That is what I rely on. It looks to me like the ages of children are relevant only if the taxpayer is not providing one half of their support.

(b)Definition of head of household
(1)In general
For purposes of this subtitle, an individual shall be considered a head of a household if, and only if, such individual is not married at the close of his taxable year, is not a surviving spouse (as defined in subsection (a)), and either—
(A)maintains as his home a household which constitutes for more than one-half of such taxable year the principal place of abode, as a member of such household, of—
(i)a qualifying child of the individual (as defined in section 152(c), determined without regard to section 152(e)), but not if such child—
(I)is married at the close of the taxpayer’s taxable year, and
(II)is not a dependent of such individual by reason of section 152(b)(2) or 152(b)(3), or both, or
(ii)any other person who is a dependent of the taxpayer, if the taxpayer is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year for such person under section 151, or
(B)maintains a household which constitutes for such taxable year the principal place of abode of the father or mother of the taxpayer, if the taxpayer is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year for such father or mother under section 151.
For purposes of this paragraph, an individual shall be considered as maintaining a household only if over half of the cost of maintaining the household during the taxable year is furnished by such individual.

I also found https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/usc26/152 where the section headed "Qualifying relative." confirms the definition of a dependent.

Am I really reading this all wrong? I note that TA seems to agree with me.

[PavelMakarchuk]

I was doing some prep for our conversation today and I think you are right. We only rely on the definition of "Qualifying child" but ignore the "Qualifying relative" section. We basically need to a gross income check which has to be below the personal exemption amount. If that is met then the age limit is irrelevant. We also need to account for disability which renders the age check irrelevant.

Fixing here:
PolicyEngine/policyengine-us#6994

[feenberg]

I found this in the same document you reference: However, if the qualifying person is your dependent parent, your dependent parent doesn't have to live with you. which suggests non-children can be used to qualify for HoH status. Dan