The Head of Household filing status has some important tax advantages over the Single filing status. If you qualify as Head of Household, you will have a lower tax rate and a higher standard deduction than a Single filer. Also, Heads of Household must have a higher income than Single filers before they owe income tax.
Heads of household can claim a 50% larger standard tax deduction than single filers. They also benefit from wider tax brackets on lower income levels, among other benefits.
For IRS purposes, a head of household is generally an unmarried taxpayer who has dependents and paid for more than half the costs of the home. This tax filing status commonly includes single parents and divorced or legally separated parents (by the last day of the year) with custody.
Head of Household Filing Status – a qualifying child is determined without regard to the exception for children of divorced or separated parents. ... Credit for Child and Dependent Care Expenses – a qualifying child must be under the age of 13 or permanently and totally disabled.
If you have already filed, you will need to amend your return to change your filing status. You will need to wait until the IRS has accepted your original return before filing the amendment. If you owed the IRS money, then wait for your payment to clear. ...
You can't claim head of household unless you file a separate tax return. If you were never married or you're legally divorced, you obviously meet the “considered unmarried” rule. ... Check with a tax professional if you're in this situation because even more complicated rules apply.
Head of household is a filing status for single or unmarried taxpayers who have maintained a home for a qualifying person, such as a child or relative. This filing status provides a larger standard deduction and more generous tax rates for calculating federal income tax than the Single filing status.
Significant Financial Benefits for Heads of Household
For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction is $12,400 for tax year 2020. For heads of household, the standard deduction will be $18,650.
To qualify for the head of household filing status while married, you must: File your taxes separately from your spouse. Pay more than half of the household expenses. Not have lived with your spouse for the last 6 months of the year.
Generally, to qualify for head of household filing status, you must have a qualifying child or a dependent. However, a custodial parent may be eligible to claim head of household filing status based on a child even if he or she released a claim to exemption for the child.
A Qualifying Child is a child who meets the IRS requirements to be your dependent for tax purposes. Though it does not have to be your child, the Qualifying Child must be related to you. If someone is your Qualifying Child, then you can claim them as a dependent on your tax return.
A qualifying child is a child whose relationship to you meets five qualifying tests for relationship, age, residency, support and joint return.
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