Head of Household
Head of Household is a filing status for individual United States taxpayers.
To use the Head of Household filing status, a taxpayer must:
- Be unmarried or [|considered unmarried] at the end of the year.
- Have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the tax year.
- Usually have a qualifying person who lived with the head in the home for more than half of the tax year unless the qualifying person is a [|dependent parent].
Advantages
Considered unmarried
A person who is married on the last day of the tax year generally must use either the Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately filing status. The exception is a taxpayer who is considered unmarried for Head of Household filing purposes and actually qualifies as Head of Household.To be considered unmarried, a taxpayer must meet all the following tests:
- The taxpayer must file a separate return.
- The taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the tax year.
- The taxpayer's spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the year.
- The taxpayer's home was the main home of his or her child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
- The taxpayer must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, this test is still met if the only reason that the taxpayer cannot claim the child's exemption is that the noncustodial parent is claiming the exemption.
Keeping up a home
To qualify for Head of Household filing status, the taxpayer must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. Costs to consider include property taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, repairs and maintenance, insurance, and food eaten in the home. Costs such as education, clothing, vacation, and transportation are not included in the cost of keeping up the homes.Qualifying person
The following table determines who is a qualifying person for Head of Household filing status:| If the person is a... | AND... | THEN that person is... |
| Qualifying child | is single | a qualifying person, whether or not one can claim an exemption for that person. |
| Qualifying child | is married and the taxpayer can claim an exemption for that person | a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying child | is married and the taxpayer cannot claim an exemption for that person | not a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative who is a father or mother | the taxpayer can claim an exemption for that person | a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative who is a father or mother | the taxpayer cannot claim an exemption for that person | not a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative other than a father or mother | that person lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year and is related in one of the ways listed below, and the taxpayer can claim an exemption for that person | a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative other than a father or mother | did not live with taxpayer for more than half the year | not a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative other than a father or mother | is not related in one of the ways listed below and is a qualifying relative only because he or she lived with the taxpayer for the whole year as a member of the household | not a qualifying person. |
| Qualifying relative other than a father or mother | the taxpayer cannot claim an exemption for that person | not a qualifying person. |
Qualifying Child MUST meet all the tests. For Example a 25-year-old full-time student does not qualify as a child but may qualify as a Qualifying Relative if the tests are met. See Table 5 Pub 501. In this case you could not file as HOH. If the tests are met you could file as single or married filing separately and claim an exemption for the non qualified child.
Qualifying relatives
Other than a father or mother, the following types of relationships may qualify a dependent as a qualifying person for head of household purposes:- Child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them.
- Brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister.
- Grandparent or direct ancestor but not foster parent.
- Stepfather or stepmother.
- Son or daughter of the taxpayer's brother or sister.
- Brother or sister of the taxpayer's father or mother.
- Son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.