Frequently Asked Tax Questions And Answers
Keyword: Head of Household
2.2 Filing Requirements/Status/Dependents/Exemptions: Filing Status
You do not qualify for the head of household filing status because you and your spouse have not lived apart for the last 6 months of the taxable year and are not considered unmarried. Your filing status for the year will either be married filing separately, or married filing jointly. If it is married filing separately, you will not qualify for the Earned Income Credit and cannot claim a credit based on child care expenses. If you file a joint return with your spouse, you may be eligible to claim these credits. See Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses and Publication 596, Earned Income Credit.
References:
- Tax Topic 353, What is Your Filing Status?
- Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
- Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses
- Publication 596, Earned Income Credit
Only one taxpayer may claim the child as a qualifying child for purposes of filing as head of household. Also, a taxpayer filing as head of household must furnish over half the cost of maintaining the household. Therefore, both parents may not file as head of household. For more information, please refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for more information.
References:
- Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
- Tax Topic 353, What is your Filing Status?
In certain circumstances, you do not need to claim the child as a dependent to qualify for head of household filing status, such as when the qualifying child is unmarried and is your child, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child. Refer to Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information, for more information.
References:
- Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
You can file as head of household even though you do not claim your unmarried dependent child as an exemption if you meet all of the following requirements:
- You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
- A qualifying person must live with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences such as school).
References:
- Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
- Tax Topic 353, What is your Filing Status?