How to Claim Head of Household for the IRS

Choose your filing status on Form 1040.

When filing taxes, there are five different filing status options: single, head of household, married filing jointly, married filing separately and qualified widower with dependent child. Filing as a head of household provides a higher standard deduction and lower tax rate than if the taxpayer files as single or married filing separately.

Instructions

1. Determine if you are unmarried or "considered unmarried." This determination must come on the last day of the year.

2. Calculate if you paid more than half the expenses related to maintaining a home the past year.

3. Determine if a "qualifying person" lived with you for at least half the year, unless the "qualifying person" is a dependent parent. Generally, a qualifying person is a close relative to you. To determine if a person is a "qualifying person," refer to IRS Publication 501, Table 4.

4. Check the head of household box on line 4 of Form 1040 or Form 1040A if all three conditions are met from Steps 1 through 3.

Resources

• IRS: Form 1040A
• IRS: Form 1040
• IRS: Publication 501 (2009)