Claiming sibling as dependent

[Azadi]

Situation: A family of 9, husband and wife, with 7 children.

Can a sibling claim one or more of his sisters as dependent using Head of Household status while his parents file tax return and claims rest of the children? 

They all meet the support and relationship test, and they all live together. 

Thank you, 

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

I'm going to say No, but please state your case as to how or why you think the sister qualifies.

Does the sister pay more than half the household expenses?

[Azadi]

The sisters are under age, and are not working. So they do not have any income. 

In the family, the oldest son has income of about 8000, and the parent got an income about 10000. The parents will file the return and claim the kids. The oldest son, supported two of his siblings (sisters) during 2019, so CAN he file for head of household and claim the two siblings as dependent? 

So the question really is, Despite parents who can claim all the children as their dependent, can a sibling claim one or two of the children?

Which basically means can the parent and the oldest son split the the 6 kids between each other? Say parent claim 4 kids, and the oldest son claim 2 kids. Or just the parent have the right to claim them, and the oldest son CAN NOT? 

[Just-Lisa-Now-]

To be HOH you need to have someone that qualifies as your dependent and you have to pay for more than half of the household expenses.  

With the few facts youve presented, I dont think youve got anyone that qualifies as HOH in this scenario.

[TAXOH · Accepted solution]

No because the parents make more than the son.  The only time a parent can let someone else in the household claim one of their children is if that other person has a higher AGI than them.

[taxesgal]

The sibling claiming the dependent needs to be OLDER than the dependent.  Also since the sibling is the qualified child of more than one individual the tie breaker rules would give the dependency to the higher income earner....  So why are you wanting to do this.

[taxesgal]

What are the ages of the siblings? That is the sibling that is making $8,000.  Are they still in school?

Do the parents own the house or do they rent?

[Marsha2020]

Don't do it.  It would be different if it was a working grandparent but not a sibling.