HeadOfHhldQualifyingPerson

The program rule HeadOfHhldQualifyingPerson indicates which persons qualify the household reference person for head of household filing status.

If "Dependent of Household Reference Person" is selected, then the household reference person must have at least one dependent in order to qualify for head of household filing status. Although there are certain real-world exceptions to this rule (such as the ability to claim a resident child who is the dependent of a former spouse) the exceptions involve nuances in the dependency definition that are not modeled in TRIM3.

If "Person Identified Through Pre-2005 Method" is selected, then TRIM3 uses the methodology that was in effect prior to the 2005 baseline to identify qualifying persons. In general, this includes never married children and grandchildren of any age (regardless of whether the child is a dependent), and most (but not all) other relatives who are dependents.

Dependent foster children are counted as qualifying persons if "Dependent of Household Reference Person" is selected. The pre-2005 method does not capture the fact that dependent foster children can be claimed as qualifying persons under the rules in effect prior to 2005.