What's this about lowering taxes??? Seems to me that 75% of
my former Heads of Household will no longer qualify for that
status and THUS have suffered an increase. It's going to
be a real mess, come the season, having to reckon with, and
re-evaluate, everyone's status. Seems they're just
shifting the burden from one class to make up for lifting it
from t'others!!!=

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I think it is pretty clear per the following from the site
you posted that a big change is there for the H of H status.
For example, an unmarried father who paid more than half of
keeping up a home for the year could claim his daughter of
any age who is also working (regardless of income) and
living at home for more than half of the year for a H of H
status. NO Longer

Uniform Definition
A Qualifying Child" may enable a taxpayer to claim several
tax benefits, such as 1.head of household filing status ,2.
the exemption for a dependent, 3.the child tax credit, 4.the
child and dependent care credit and 5.the earned income tax
credit. Prior to 2005, each of these items defined a
qualifying child differently, leaving many taxpayers
confused.

The Working Families Tax Relief Act of 2004 set a uniform
definition of a qualifying child, beginning for Tax Year
2005. This standard definition applies to all five of the
tax benefits noted above, with each benefit having some
additional rules.

In general, to be a taxpayer's "qualifying " a person must
satisfy four tests:

Relationship - the taxpayer's child or stepchild (whether by
blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or stepsibling, or
a descendant of one of these.

Residence - has the same principal residence as the taxpayer
for more than half the tax year. Exceptions apply, in
certain cases, for children of divorced or separated
parents, kidnapped children, temporary absences, and for
children who were born or died during the year.

Age - must be under the age of 19 at the end of the tax
year, or under the age of 24 if a full-time student for at
least five months of the year, or be permanently and totally
disabled at any time during the year.

Support - did not provide more than one-half of his/her own
support for the year.

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That's also my reading, which annoys me much! My house
(I'm a 20 year widow) has had a revolving series of adult
children coming back "just until I ...find another
place....get a new job....etc, etc". I've been Head of
Household about 15 out of the last 20 years and, reading the
new definition of "qualifying child" I won't ever be again
unless one of my kids is out of work the entire year or
becomes disabled. And believe me, I read it thoroughly!

Nan, EA in LA

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Brew1 wrote:

- quote -

The change that took place relative to a qualifying child
for filing HOH is as follows:

Under the old law an unmarried child (grandchild, stepchild
or adopted) was a qualifying person if that child lived with
you for more than half the year and you provided more than
half the cost of keeping up the home. A foster child also
met the test if the period was the whole year and you could
claim an exemption. A whole slew of other relatives would
also be qualifying persons if you could claim an exemption
for the person and you also met the household maintenance
and more than half year residence test. A married child,
grandchild, stepchild or adopted child would also be a
qualifying person under the same rules as all those other
relatives.

Note that there is no mention of an age requirement for any
of the people identified above. E.g., your unmarried child
who was not your dependent and was age 40 could qualify you
for HOH.

Under the new law, anyone for whom you can claim an
exemption who lives with you for more than half the year in
a home that you provide more than half the cost of
maintaining (the exception for parents not living with you
still exists) is a qualifying person for HOH. Under the new
uniform definition, the following individuals who are not
your dependent would also be qualifying persons if they were
under age 19 or 24 if a student:

Your child, stepchild, adopted child, sibling, step sibling
or a descendant of any of the preceding and a foster child
placed by a qualifying agent or the courts. The age test is
waived for those individuals who are totally and permanently
disabled.

Relative to HOH, there are pluses and minuses. Certain
individuals who under the old rules would have had to been
your dependent could now qualify you for HOH even though
they were not your dependent if they could meet the age
requirement. E.g., your 17 year old brother or nephew. Other
individuals who under the old rules did not have to be your
dependent would no longer qualify you unless they met the
age requirement. E.g., your child or grandchild age 25.

--
Alan
http://taxtopics.net

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I'm looking at http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/...133298,00.html

Originally, I understood the new guidelines to be
meaningless, as you could use the old guidelines if you
didn't meet the new ones. Now it appears (to me), that for
2005 there has been a significant change in regard to a
qualifying child for Head of Household status. As y'all are
well aware, previously it was possible for a non-dependent
child to be a qualifying child, as long as the taxpayer
provided more than half of the household support.

Under the new uniform definition of a qualifying child, the
support test reads: " did not provide more than one-half of
his/her own support for the year."

I would appreciate anyone confirming, denying, or clarifying
this situation.

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