Who Can Claim Head of Household on Taxes?

The Head of Household filing status provides a larger standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets compared to filing as Single or Married Filing Separately. For the 2024 tax year, the standard deduction for Head of Household is $21,900, compared to $14,600 for single filers. The income thresholds for tax brackets are also wider, allowing you to earn more before moving into a higher tax bracket.

The Unmarried Requirement

To qualify for Head of Household status, a taxpayer must be unmarried on the last day of the tax year, December 31. Your marital status for the entire year is determined by your status on this final day. This applies to individuals who are single, divorced, or legally separated by a court decree. An informal separation is not sufficient to be considered unmarried.

A special provision allows certain married individuals to be “considered unmarried” if they meet four tests. Temporary absences for reasons like military deployment or medical treatment do not count as your spouse living apart from you. The four tests are:

• You must file a separate tax return from your spouse.
• You must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
• Your spouse must not have lived in your home during the last six months of the tax year (July 1 through December 31).
• Your home must have been the main home for your child, stepchild, or eligible foster child for more than half the year, and you must be able to claim the child as a dependent.

The Home Maintenance Cost Requirement

You must have paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year. This means your financial contribution to the household’s total expenses must be greater than the combined contributions from all other sources, including other residents or government assistance. You must calculate the total costs for the year and then determine if your portion exceeds 50 percent.

Qualifying expenses for keeping up a home include:

• Direct housing costs like rent, mortgage interest, and property taxes
• Utility payments for electricity, gas, water, and internet service
• Costs for home repairs, maintenance, and property insurance
• The cost of food consumed within the home

Certain expenses are excluded from this calculation. Costs that are personal in nature, such as clothing, education, medical care, life insurance premiums, and transportation costs, do not count. The value of services you provide, such as your own labor for repairs, is also not included.

The Qualifying Person Requirement

A “qualifying person” must have lived with you in your home for more than half of the year. Temporary absences for school, vacation, or medical care are permitted. A person can only be used to qualify one taxpayer for Head of Household status per year. This person can be either a qualifying child or a qualifying relative.

Qualifying Child

For an individual to be your qualifying child, they must meet relationship, age, and support tests. The relationship test requires the child to be your son, daughter, stepchild, eligible foster child, brother, sister, half-sibling, stepsister, or a descendant of any of these, such as a grandchild or nephew. An adopted child is always treated as your own. The age test requires the child to be under 19, or under 24 if a full-time student for at least five months of the year, with no age limit for a permanently disabled child. The support test requires that the child did not provide more than half of their own financial support.

As the custodial parent, you may still file as Head of Household even if you allow the noncustodial parent to claim the child as a dependent, provided you meet all other requirements.

When a child could be a qualifying child for more than one person, the IRS uses these “tie-breaker” rules:

• If only one person is the child’s parent, the parent can claim the child.
• If both people are parents, the child is claimed by the parent with whom they lived for the longer period.
• If the time was equal, the parent with the higher adjusted gross income (AGI) claims the child.
• If neither person is a parent, the person with the highest AGI can claim the child.

Qualifying Relative

A person who is not your qualifying child may still be a qualifying relative if they meet several tests. First, the person cannot be your qualifying child or the qualifying child of any other taxpayer. Second, they must either be related to you in one of the ways specified by the IRS (such as a parent, grandparent, or sibling) or live with you as a member of your household for the entire year. A non-relative, like a friend, cannot qualify you for Head of Household status.

The qualifying relative must also meet a gross income test; their gross income for the 2024 tax year must be less than $5,050, which includes only taxable income. Finally, you must provide more than half of the person’s total support for the year. A special rule applies to a dependent parent, who does not have to live with you. For a parent to qualify, you must pay more than half the cost of keeping up their main home for the entire year, which can include a nursing home.