HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD FILING STATUS
IRS PUBLICATION #501 contains detailed information.
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet ALL of the following requirements:
1-You are unmarried or "considered unmarried" on the last day of the tax year (on December 31).
2-You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
3-A qualifying person lived with you in the home for more than half the year (temporary absences are allowed). Generally the "qualifying person" must live with you for more than half of the year. See dependent rules for qualifying child and qualifying relative tests.
If the qualifying person is your dependent parent, he or she doesn't have to live with you.
Table 4 in IRS Publication 501 contains information on who is and who isn't a "qualifying person" for head of household filing status.
"Considered Unmarried"
You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet ALL of the following tests:
1-You file a separate return (as single, married file separately, or head of household filinf status).
2-You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
3-Your spouse DID NOT live in your home DURING THE LAST 6 MONTHS OF THE YEAR (July 1-December 31).
4-You home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
5-You must be able to claim the child as your dependent. NOTE: You meet this test if you can't claim the child as a dependent only because the NONCUSTODIAL PARENT CAN CLAIM THE CHILD AS A DEPENDENT.
NOTE: If you are A NONCUSTODIAL PARENT , the term "qualifying child" for head of household filing status DOES NOT include a child who is your qualifying child ONLY BECAUSE of the rules for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents or Parents Who Live Apart UNDER QUALIFYING CHILD.
If you are the CUSTODIAL PARENT and those rules apply, the child IS generally your qualifying child for head of household filing status even though the child isn't a qualifying child you can claim as a dependent.
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