Rules for Determining Head of Household Eligibility

Filing Status
March 5, 2015

There are two qualifying factors to determining eligibility for head of household, and you must meet both in order to file using the status. Both factors have a specific set of rules that help you determine if you meet the requirements.

  1. Marital Status:

You have to be unmarried, or consider unmarried for the purposes of taxation in order to use the head of household status. You are unmarried if any of the following apply:

  • You are single on December 31st, 2014.
  • Your spouse died prior to this tax year. It may be more beneficial to file as a qualifying widow(er) if you have a dependent child and meet the other requirements of that status. If your spouse just passed in 2014, you are still considered married and therefore aren’t eligible for head of household. You should file a joint return.
  • You are legally separated or divorced through a finalized court decree by December 31st, 2014.
  • You haven’t lived with your spouse for the final six months of the year. You can be considered unmarried if you spouse lived separately from you and your dependent, and you are responsible for the expenses related to maintaining a household for the child. The child can be a step child, biological child, or adopted child. You and your spouse need to have been living in separate residences for the last six months of the year in order to

  1. Household Expenses:

In order to use the head of household status, you need to have provided over half of the costs of keeping a home for yourself and a qualifying person.

  • A qualifying person is any child or relative who meets the requirements of a dependent exemption.
  • The home you pay to maintain must be the principal residence for yourself and your dependent, who lives with you for the entire year. If your dependent is your parent, they are not required to live in your household, but you are required to have paid more than 50% of their household costs.
  • Household costs include rent, property taxes, mortgage and interest, utilities, maintenance fees, insurance, domestic services, and any food and necessities for the home.
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