Can a Person Claim Single But at the End of the Year Claim Head of the Household?

Your W-4 filing status can differ from your 1040 election.

At the start of any new employment, you must prepare a Form W-4 for your employer so the payroll department calculates the appropriate federal withholding rate on your paychecks. The Form W-4 does not provide an election for every filing status, so you must select the one closest to describing your household if you do not fit neatly into one of the supplied options.

Form W-4 Filing Status

The Form W-4 only provides three options for filing status: Single; Married; and Married, but withhold at higher Single rate. If you are not married, the appropriate choice is Single when completing your Form W-4 for employers. Although tax filers claiming Head of Household receive a larger standard deduction than single tax filers, the Internal Revenue Service does not take that larger deduction into account on the Form W-4.

Form W-4 Allowances

If you are a head of household filer, you can claim an allowance for yourself and every dependent that you will claim on your federal tax filing. Each allowance claimed on Form W-4 will reduce the amount of federal tax withheld from your paycheck. Do not exaggerate the amount of allowances you are eligible for on Form W-4, or you may end up owing a large tax bill at filing time. If the Internal Revenue Service determines that you prepared your Form W-4 to under-withhold on your paychecks, they may assess penalties and interest on the underpaid tax.

Tax Filing Status

Because the Head of Household filing status offers larger tax deductions than the Single filing status, you should file Head of Household if you qualify for that status. To qualify for Head of Household status, you cannot be legally married or must be separated from your spouse. If you were married, your spouse cannot have lived in your home the last six months of the tax filing year. You must pay more than half the cost of maintaining your home during the tax filing year for yourself and a qualified dependent. A qualified dependent includes a biological, adopted or legally placed child who you cared for during the tax filing year.

Head of Household Exemptions

You claim a personal exemption on your federal tax return for yourself and your qualified dependent, unless you have a legal document that specifies otherwise. For example, some divorce or separation documents allow the non-custodial parent to claim the personal exemption for the dependent on his tax return. Even if you do not claim the dependent on your federal tax filing, you can still file as Head of Household as long as you meet the criteria for that filing status.

References

• Internal Revenue Service: Publication 501
• Internal Revenue Service: Form W-4