Review each of the following scenarios. the first individual mentioned is the primary taxpayer. assume this person is a u. s. citizen and not a dependent of anyone else. then, given the information provided, select the response that describes a taxpayer who may file as head of household.
clint lived with his ex-wife, mary, and his 17-year-old stepson, brad, for the first five months of the year. during that time, clint paid more than 50% of the costs of supporting the household. in may 2017, the couple divorced, and mary and brad moved out.
janelle has been raising april, age 6. april's mother, denise, used to live with janelle and april, but denise moved out in 2015 and has not been heard from since. the whereabouts of april's father are also unknown. janelle and april are not related, and janelle does not have formal custody, but she cares for april as if she were her own. no one else lives in their household, and janelle provides all of april's support.
tracy is a 21-year-old single taxpayer. two years ago, her 19-year-old sister, stacy, moved in with her because stacy was not getting along with her parents. stacy earned $12,000 in 2017 and was a full-time student. tracy provided more than half of stacy's support.
james, age 36, lives with his 62-year-old father, martin. martin has health issues and did not earn any income in 2017. james and martin lived together all year, and james provided all of martin's support. martin's 60-year-old wife, loretta, lived apart from them. loretta earned $20,000 during the year and has a tax liability. martin and loretta are filing a joint return.