1. Filing Statues
Previously, we introduced the five filing statuses recognized by the Tax Code.
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Single (S)
- Married filing jointly (MFJ)
- Married filing separately (MFS)
- Head of household (HOH)
- Qualifying surviving spouse (QSS)
As you read, the first three statuses (S, MFJ, and MFS) are allowed whether the taxpayer has a dependent or not. The last two statuses require that the taxpayer have at least one
qualifying person. In this chapter, we look at both HOH and QSS and the requirements for these filing statuses.
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- Single (S)
- The filing status used by an unmarried taxpayer who does not qualify for any other filing status.
- Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)
- The filing status used by a taxpayer who is considered married at the end of the tax year and not legally separated under a final decree of divorce or separate maintenance agreement. As a result of filing MFJ, the taxpayer(s) record total income and deductions of both spouses on one tax return.
- Married Filing Separately (MFS)
- The filing status used by a married couple choosing to record their respective incomes and deductions on separate individual tax returns.
- Head of Household (HOH)
- The filing status used by an unmarried (or married but qualified to be unmarried for tax purposes) taxpayer who pays more than half of the cost of maintaining a household for a qualifying child who is a dependent for more than six months, or for their mother or father for the entire year, and may claim either on their tax return.
- Qualifying Surviving Spouse (QSS)
- Formerly known as qualifying widower (QW), this is the filing status available to a qualified taxpayer for two tax years following the year of the spouse's death. To qualify, the surviving spouse must have been entitled to file a joint return for the year of death, remain unmarried at the end of the current tax year, and pay over half the cost of maintaining their home, which was the principal residence the entire tax year of their dependent child.
2. Head of Household (HOH)
Taxpayers may file as head of household if they meet all of the following requirements below. Notice the requirements are different for unmarried and married taxpayers.
Unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the tax year.
Paid more than half of the cost of maintaining the home for the year.
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- Cost of Maintaining a Home
- Expenses necessary to maintain a taxpayer’s residence. These costs include mortgage interest and real estate taxes (or rent), fire and casualty insurance on the dwelling, upkeep and repairs, utilities, paid domestic help, and food consumed in the home.
Maintained a household for a qualifying person. This can be any of the following:
- Unmarried taxpayer: Certain qualifying children or qualifying relatives who lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year.
- Unmarried taxpayer: A parent, if the taxpayer paid more than half the cost of maintaining that parent's main home for the entire year and claimed the parent as a dependent on their return.
- Married taxpayer considered unmarried: A child, stepchild, or foster child who lived with the taxpayer for more than half the year.
Notice that married taxpayers who are considered unmarried have fewer options for a
qualifying person.
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Married taxpayers have some additional requirements, which are discussed in the “HOH - Married, but Considered Unmarried” section.
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EXAMPLE
Herbert (34) is unmarried and pays 100% of the cost of maintaining the household he and his daughter, Clarice (5), his
qualifying child dependent, lived in all year. Herbert may file as head of household.
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EXAMPLE
Juanita (42) is unmarried and pays 65% of the cost of maintaining a home for her father, Barnaby (77), who she will claim as a dependent on her tax return. Barnaby had no taxable income and did not live with Juanita. Juanita may file as head of household.
2a. Qualifying Person
When discussing certain filing statuses and certain credits, the term qualifying person is used. This is because sometimes the qualifications for the filing status or credit are not the exact same as those for a qualifying child or qualifying relative. They may be closely related, but are not quite the same. As you learn about each of the filing statuses in this chapter, keep this in mind. It is not enough to meet the requirements of a qualifying child or qualifying relative to qualify a taxpayer for the head of household or the qualifying surviving spouse filing statuses.
A qualifying person for the taxpayer to use the head of household filing status is different depending on whether the taxpayer is married or unmarried (single).
It is often easier to think of the head of household filing status as having two options:
- Unmarried (Single): Taxpayer is not married on the last day of the tax year.
- Married, Considered Unmarried: Taxpayer is married, but meets all the requirements to be considered unmarried for the head of household filing status.
The
qualifying person for a single taxpayer is different than for a married taxpayer wanting to use the head of household filing status. These will both be looked at separately in the following sections.
Multiple support agreements. If a multiple support agreement allows the taxpayer to claim a qualifying dependent, the taxpayer may not be able to file as head of household because of the support requirement for a qualifying relative. Taxpayers who have qualifying relative dependents must have provided over half of the support for those dependents by themselves in order to qualify to file as head of household.
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- Multiple Support Agreement
- An agreement between taxpayers who collectively provide at least 50% of a dependent relative's support. The agreement allows one of the taxpayers to claim the dependent if they provide at least 10% of the support, even though that taxpayer does not provide more than 50% of the support for the otherwise qualifying relative. All the others who furnish at least 10% of the support file written declarations that they will not claim the individual for that taxable year. Form 2120 is used for this purpose.
Nonresident aliens. A taxpayer who is a nonresident alien for any part of the tax year may not file as head of household.
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- Nonresident Alien
- A person who is not a U.S. citizen and does not live in the United States or lives in the United States under a nonresident visa or does not meet the substantial presence test. A nonresident alien return is filed on Form 1040-NR. See IRS Publication 519.
2b. Temporary Absence
Recall that a person’s principal place of abode does not change if there is an absence from the home that is temporary in nature due to special circumstances. Examples include absences due to vacation, business, hospitalization, education, military service, or short-term incarceration.
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EXAMPLE
Thelma is unmarried and paid the entire cost of maintaining her home in Paducah, Kentucky. She maintains a room in the home for her dependent daughter, Daphne (23), who is currently attending college in Los Angeles, where she shares a dorm room with two other students. Daphne comes home every other weekend and on holiday breaks. Most of Daphne’s belongings remain at Thelma’s home. Daphne seldom visits her father and does not keep any of her belongings at his home. Daphne does not provide more than one half of her own support. It is clear from the circumstances that Daphne’s principal place of abode is Thelma’s home. Since Thelma meets the qualifications to be considered unmarried for tax purposes, she may file as head of household.
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- Principal Place of Abode (Principal Residence)
- The place an individual considers to be their permanent home. A person's abode does not change when they are temporarily absent due to illness, school, military service, etc., as long as their living area is maintained, and they can reasonably be expected to return home after the temporary absence.
