Head of Household

Head of Household

A taxpayer who pays more than half of the expenses of a household and is therefore taking care of a dependent. Heads of household are usually entitled to preferential tax treatment. A head of household must be unmarried unless his/her spouse files an individual tax return and has not lived with the head of household for more than six of the last 12 months.

Farlex Financial Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Head of household.

Head of household is an IRS filing status that you can use if you are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of a tax year and provide at least half the cost of maintaining a home for one or more qualifying dependents.

That may be your child, grandchild, or other relative who lives in that home for more than half the year, or a parent whether or not he or she lives in your home.

The advantage of filing as head of household is that you can take a higher standard deduction than if you filed as a single taxpayer and you owe less federal income tax than you would as a single, assuming all other details were the same.

Filing as head of household also means you qualify for certain deductions and credits that would not be available to you if you used the married filing separate returns status.

Dictionary of Financial Terms. Copyright © 2008 Lightbulb Press, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Head of Household

The filing status used by an unmarried taxpayer (or taxapyer who is considered unmarried) who pays over half the cost of maintaining his home that is the principal residence for over half the tax year of his qualifying child (whether or not the child is claimed as a dependent) or a qualifying relative who is claimed as a dependent. A dependent parent who does not live with the taxpayer may also qualify the taxpayer for the head of household status if qualifications are met.

Copyright © 2008 H&R Block. All Rights Reserved. Reproduced with permission from H&R Block Glossary