What is Filing as the Head of Household?
- The basic qualifications that permit you the ability to file as head of household include being unmarried. In this regard, you cannot be a qualifying widow or widower to claim head of household. In other words, if your spouse passes away during a particular tax year, your appropriate filing status would be as a qualifying widow or widower rather than a head of household.
- Another basic requirement of filing as head of household is providing a home and support for a qualifying dependent. The term "qualifying" refers to the ability to claim an individual as a dependent for the purposes of a tax return.
The first requirement of a qualifying dependent is a relationship between that individual and the taxpayer. Normally, a qualifying dependent is your own child under the age of 19 at the end of the tax year. If your child is a full-time student, he or she is a qualifying dependent until the age of 24. Other examples of a qualifying dependent include a sibling, grandchild or stepchild under age 19 (or 24 if a full-time student). Additionally, a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew are potential qualifying dependents.
In addition to the relationship issue, in order to be a qualifying dependent, that individual must live in your residence for more than half of the year. You must provide more than 50 percent of the support for that individual. In some cases, however, if your qualifying dependent is your dependent parent, that parent does not necessarily have to live with you. See IRS Publication 501 for more information on this exception. - There is an exception that allows you to file as head of household even if you are married. First, your spouse cannot have been a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year. You need to provide more than half the cost of maintaining the home in which you reside for more than half of that tax year. The home also needs to have been the primary residence of a minor child or another qualified dependent (who, in fact, is declared as a dependent on your taxes) for more than half the tax year.
- The primary benefits associated with filing as head of household are financial. First, by filing as head of household, as opposed to filing as a single taxpayer, you are able to take advantage of a wider tax bracket. This normally means your tax rate is lower than it would be if you filed as an unmarried individual. Second, by filing as head of household, you enjoy a larger personal exemption as well.
- If you elect to file as head of household you use a different tax table than a single filer. If you qualify as a head of household, use the tax table that is found in Section 1(b) of the Internal Revenue Code. Make sure that you maintain proper documentation pertaining to the amount of support you provided to a qualified dependent during the tax year. Additionally, you must be able to document the presence of that qualified dependent in your household for more than 50 percent of the tax year.