The head of household filing status is one that few people understand. But it is important to understand all of your filing options to minimize the taxes you owe. If you meet the criteria to qualify, a tax return for head of household can result in lower taxes than single status. This article will help you to understand how to qualify for head of household filing status. Show What qualifies you to file head of household or when can you file head of household:
As with many tax issues, there are specific definitions for some of these that are important to understand when deciding if you qualify for head of household status. These are explained in more detail below. Considered unmarriedTaxpayers filing as head of household must be “considered unmarried” at the end of their tax year. This is one of the important head of household criteria. This means:
If the circumstances of your separation are temporary, the IRS will consider you married for tax purposes. Qualifying temporary separations include military deployment, staying in a medical treatment facility or going to college. Qualifying ChildThis requirement goes beyond your own child. For a dependent child to qualify, they must meet each of these criteria:
There are some cases where you can file taxes as head of household although you cannot claim the child as a dependent. If you are separated or divorced and your child lived with you over half the tax year, you can use head of household status even though the child’s other parent claims your child on their taxes. Qualifying DependentEven if the dependent in question doesn’t meet the qualifying child criteria, you might still be able to file taxes as head of household. If they lived in your house over half the year, and you provided over half of their financial support, these relatives are qualifying dependents:
You might also be able to use head of household status if you provided over half the expenses (head of household expenses criteria) for the main home of your parents during the full year and can claim them as a dependent, even if they didn’t live with you. Maintaining the HouseholdYou need to have paid more than half the costs of keeping up a home for the year. That includes your rent or mortgage payment, property taxes, utilities, repairs, maintenance and groceries. You can’t include things like clothing, life insurance or transportation. Receiving child support or alimony doesn’t prevent you from claiming head of household as long as you’re paying more than 50% of your household costs from your own income or savings. Even if you get financial help from someone, you still qualify if you pay over half the bills with your own money. Advantages of using Head of Household StatusDoes filing head of household get you more money? Claiming “head of household” as your filing status (head of household filing status vs single or married filing separately) benefits you in two ways. First, you’ll get a lower tax rate. For tax year 2021, for example, the 12% tax rate applies to single filers with an adjusted gross income that’s between $9,950 and $40,525. If you file as head of household, however, you can earn between $14,201 and $54,200 before surpassing the 12% tax bracket. Head of household filers also benefit from a higher standard deduction. For the 2021 tax year, the deduction for single filers is $12,550, but it climbs almost 50% more to $18,800 for those filing head of household. Deductions reduce your taxable income for the year, which can bring your tax bill down or bump up the size of your refund. Do I qualify to file as head of household if I am single?Can you file head of household if you are single? If you both are unmarried and have children from previous relationships, each of you can file as heads of household as long as you’re adhering to the IRS guidelines (including each of you is paying for more than half of your home costs – e.g., you’re evenly splitting the rent and utilities and each of you pays for your own food). If you have a child together, only one of you can claim HOH status with that child in mind (the IRS says that a child can be only one person’s dependent.) In the case where only one of you has a child from a previous relationship, the biological parent can claim HOH status – and the other can claim single status. But if the biological parent doesn’t work outside the home, the earning partner could claim HOH status. In order to claim both the child and non-earning partner as qualifying dependents, the following would have to be true:
Can I File as Head of Household If There Are No Children?If there are no children, you can still claim a live-in boyfriend or girlfriend as a qualifying dependent, as long as you meet the following is true:
What makes you head of household If you are Married?If you have a spouse, it’s likely more beneficial tax-wise to file jointly. But if you are filing separately, you can claim head of household status if you meet these three criteria:
ConclusionYou may save some money on your taxes if you qualify to file as head of household. If you think you may be eligible, spend some time understanding the requirements or seek out professional tax assistance. |