Head of Household

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Head of Household is a filing status for individual United States taxpayers.

In order to use the Head of Household filing status, the taxpayer must do the following:

1. Be unmarried or considered unmarried as of the last day of the tax year;
2. Have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the tax year (either one's own home or the home of a qualifying parent); and
3. In most cases, have a qualifying person who lived with the head in the home for more than half of the tax year except if the qualifying person is a dependent parent. (See Special rule for parents.)

Contents 1 Advantages 2 Considered unmarried 3 Keeping up a home 4 Qualifying person 4.1 Qualifying relatives 4.2 Special rule for parents 5 References

Advantages

A taxpayer using the Head of Household filing status is entitled to used the Head of Household tax rates, which feature wider tax brackets. Also, the taxpayer is entitled to a larger standard deduction ($8,500 in 2011) than taxpayers using Single or Married Filing Separately ($5,800 in 2011).

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.

In order to be considered unmarried, a taxpayer must meet all of the following tests:

1. The taxpayer must file a separate return.
2. The taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the tax year.
3. The taxpayer's spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the year.
4. The taxpayer's home was the main home of his or her child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
5. 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 (under a written release of exemption or a pre-1985 decree of divorce, decree of separate maintenance, or written separation agreement).

A taxpayer may also be considered unmarried for head of household purposes if the spouse is a nonresident alien, and the taxpayer does not elect to treat the spouse as a resident alien. In that case, the taxpayer is still considered married for purposes of the earned income credit.

Keeping up a home

In order 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 home.

Qualifying person

The following table ^[1] 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.
	is married and one can claim an exemption for that person	a qualifying person.
	is married and one cannot claim an exemption for that person	not a qualifying person.
Qualifying relative who is a father or mother	one can claim an exemption for that person	a qualifying person.
	one cannot claim an exemption for that person	not a qualifying person.
Qualifying relative other than a father or mother	that person lived with one for more than half the year and is related in one of the ways listed below, and one can claim an exemption for that person	a qualifying person.
	did not live with one for more than half the year	not a qualifying person.
	is not related in one of the ways listed below and is a qualifying relative only because he or she lived with one for the whole year as a member of the household	not a qualifying person.
	one cannot claim an exemption for that person	not a qualifying person.

Qualifying relatives

Other than a father or mother, the following types of relationships may qualify a dependent to be a qualifying person for head of household purposes^[2]:

• Child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them. (A legally adopted child is considered a child.)
• 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.

Any of these relationships that was established by marriage is not ended by death or divorce.

Special rule for parents

If the qualifying person is the taxpayer's father or mother, the taxpayer may file as Head of Household even if the father or mother does not live with the taxpayer. However, the taxpayer must be able to claim the exemption for the father or mother. Also, the taxpayer must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the main home for the entire year for the father or mother. The taxpayer is considered to be keeping up the main home for the father or mother by paying more than half the cost of keeping the parent in a rest home for the elderly.

References