<p>So I have a weird family situation. My father doesn't work and but someone decided to file my Mom as HOH..
what should I do?</p>
<p>^Should your mom filed as HOH? If not, ask your parents to amend their tax returns.</p>
<p>What exactly is the problem?</p>
<p>Are your parents married and living together? If so, your Mom cannot file as head of household. Their options are married filing jointly or married filing separately.</p>
<p>If you want to be eligible for financial aid, you should encourage your mom to correct her tax return ASAP . . . and file it correctly from now on.</p>
<p>“someone” decided to file your mom as head of household?</p>
<p>If she is married, she cannot use this tax filing status. First up…she needs to amend her taxes ASAP…and not file as HOH while married in the future.</p>
<p>I have unfortunately seen a number of tax preparers do this - I am not sure if it’s because mom is not being honest with the preparer about her situation, or if the preparer is not on the up & up. Since I have seen quite a few, I would suspect it’s the latter. Your mom should go back to the preparer and tell him/her to file an amended return - or if she did her own taxes, she needs to file an amended return.</p>
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Since OP did not give us his complete story, we will not know if filing of HOH was correct for her mom or not.</p>
<p>Seems to me the only way HOH is correct is if the parents are formally separated or divorced. The IRS doesn’t recognize informal separation like the dept. of ed. does.</p>
<p>Kelsmom, what does the school fin aid office do in these cases where the IRS info such as HOH does not jive with the FAFSA info or the student’s supposed situation?</p>
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<p>Not necessarily. Easy to see if HOH is appropriate or not:</p>
<p>[Publication</a> 501 (2012), Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information](<a href=“http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html]Publication”>http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html)</p>
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<p>I’m am not Kelsmom, or a financial aid officer.</p>
<p>My understanding is that if the info doesn’t align between the FAFSA and other info…this will trigger verification. If a parent who is married files as HOH when they clearly cannot do so, then they would have to amend the tax return before any financial aid would be processed or disbursed.</p>
<p>Kelsmom will clarify, I am sure.</p>
<p>When filing status does not seem correct based on other information, the aid officer is obligated to resolve the discrepancy. If sufficient evidence is presented to support the filing status or other discrepancy, the aid officer retains the evidence & processes the aid. When insufficient evidence is presented, the aid officer may not disburse aid until the discrepancies are resolved. For example, if parents filed with an incorrect filing status, the aid officer is not allowed to disburse aid until the parents have filed amended returns & submitted proof of the amended returns.</p>
<p>And yes, married parents can sometimes legitimately file as head of household … but only ONE would be able to do so. I always used the IRS website tool for filing status, plugging in the info from the documentation provided to determine whether head of household was an acceptable status for the situation. I had to deny aid more than once when parents refused to amend returns. At least we didn’t report them to the IRS …</p>
<p>I think a married person can only file as HOH if the person will be unmarried by the end of the year. I don’t think this applies in this case.</p>
<p>No … they just have to be living at separate addresses. I was surprised when I found that out. Check the 1040 instructions to see who can file H of H … the “living apart” stuff is at the end of the H of H section.</p>
<p>Are the OP’s parents living in separate residences? I thought that they were living together.</p>
<p>*If you are married you can file as head of household if you can be considered unmarried. All of the following must be true:</p>
<p>You and your spouse file separately.
You pay more than 50% of the expenses of maintaining the household.
Your spouse did not live in the home for the last 6 months of the year.
The household is the principal home of a qualifying person or child.
You can claim an exemption for a qualifying person or child.*</p>
<p>Well, my parents were formally separated for a couple of years, when my mother starting filing as HOH. They just got back together.</p>
<p>Well, it sounds like your mom qualified to file as HOH last April, but next year she won’t qualify.</p>
<p>So how will this work for Financial Aid?</p>
<p>If you are applying for aid for the 2014-2015 school year (next year) and your parents are living together now, your parents will have to file taxes as married filing jointly, or married filing separately (both would need to file). Neither would be H of H for 2013 which will be the tax year for your FAFSA.</p>
<p>Kelsmom…am I right??</p>
<p>When your parents file next Spring based on 2013 earnings, they’ll likely file Married Filing Jointly, since filing separately likely has no benefit.</p>
<p>I don’t think much would change FA wise since your dad has no income. Maybe your EFC will drop a bit since your dad is now in the household. </p>
<p>What is your EFC for this year? What aid did you get? </p>
<p>What year are you in college? Will your dad be working at some point?</p>