An adopted child is a child you have legally adopted. After legal adoption, the child is considered your child by blood. Before legal adoption, a child is considered your child for head of household purposes if, during the tax year, he or she was placed with you for adoption by an authorized agency and was a member of your household.
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If you were married in the tax year but the marriage was later annulled, you are treated as having been unmarried during the year.
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A child qualifying you for the head of household filing status must be your child, grandchild (a grandchild does not qualify you if you are married), stepchild, adopted child, or foster child who is:
- Single as of the last day of the year, and for whom you can claim a dependent exemption credit. If you are unmarried, you do not have to be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for the child unless the child is your foster child. If the child is your foster child, you must be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for this child and the child must have lived with you for the entire year.
- Married as of the last day of the year. You must be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for the child. However, if your married child's other parent claims the child under rules for a noncustodial parent, you do not have to be able to claim the child as your dependent.
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If you were married as of last day of the tax year or if your spouse died during the tax year, you may be considered unmarried for head of household purposes if you meet all of the following requirements:
- Your qualifying person is your child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child.
- You filed a tax return separate from your spouse's tax return,
- You paid more than one-half the cost of keeping up your home for the taxable year,
- Your spouse did not live in your home at any time during the last six months of the taxable year (see Temporary Absence), and
- Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or adopted child for more than half the taxable year, or the main home of your foster child for the entire taxable year.
- You must be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for your child,
stepchild, adopted child, or foster child.
You can still meet this requirement if you cannot claim a dependent exemption credit for your child because:- You, as the child's custodial parent, stated in writing to the noncustodial parent that the noncustodial parent may claim the dependent exemption credit to which you were entitled, or
- The noncustodial parent provided at least $600 of support for the child and claimed an exemption for the child under a pre-1985 decree of divorce or separation, or a pre-1985 written agreement.
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If the person whom you believe qualifies you to file as head of household is born or dies during the year, you may be able to claim the head of household filing status. You must have provided more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the person's main home for more than half the year. However, the requirement that the home must have been the person's main home for more than half the year does not apply if the person was not alive for more than half the year. In that case, the home must have been the person's main home for the period that the person was alive during the year.
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If one of the requirements is that you must be entitled to claim a dependent exemption for your qualifying person in order to file using the head of household filing status, all the following five tests must be met:
- Relationship or Member of Household Test
- Citizenship Test
- Joint Return Test
- Gross Income Test
- Support Test
Relationship or Member of Household Test. To meet this test, the person must be one of the relatives specified by law or live with you for the entire year as a member of your household. See subparagraph 1 and 2 under Qualifying Relative for a list of relatives who can meet this test.
If at anytime during the year the person was your spouse, the person cannot qualify as your dependent and you are not entitled to claim a dependent exemption credit for the person.
Citizenship Test. To meet this test, for some part of the calendar year in which your tax year begins, the person must be a U.S. citizen or national, or a resident of the U. S., Canada, or Mexico.
Joint Return Test. Even if you meet all of the other tests to be entitled to claim an exemption credit for your dependent, you are generally not allowed an exemption for your dependent if he or she files a joint tax return. However, you may take an exemption for a married dependent who files a joint return if all the following apply:
- Neither your dependent nor your dependent's spouse is required to file a return, and
- Neither your dependent nor your dependent’s spouse would have a tax liability if they filed separate returns, and
- Your dependent and your dependent’s spouse only file a joint return to get a refund of tax withheld.
Gross Income Test. Generally, you may not take an exemption for a dependent if that person had gross income equal to or more than the federal allowable dependent exemption amount for that particular year. For the federal allowable amount, see the federal instruction booklet for that particular year. For more information about gross income, see IRS Publication 17, Your Personal Income Tax at www.irs.ustreas.gov.
This test does not apply if the person is your child and is under 19 years old or a full-time student under 24 years old.
For purposes of the Gross Income Test:
- A child is your son, stepson, daughter, stepdaughter, a legally adopted child, or a child placed with you by an authorized placement agency for you to legally adopt. A foster child who was a member of your household for the entire year is also considered your child.
- Your child was a student if, during some part of each of five calendar
months during the calendar year (not necessarily consecutive), he or
she was:
- A full-time student at a school that has a regular teaching staff, course of study, and a regularly enrolled student body in attendance, or
- A student taking a full-time, on-farm training course given by a school described in the preceding paragraph, or by a state, county, or local government.
Support Test. You must provide more than half of a person's total support during the calendar year to meet the support test. To figure whether you have provided more than half the support, you must compare the amount you contributed for the person's support to the entire amount of support the person received from all sources. All sources include tax exempt income such as social security benefits and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly Aid to Families with Dependent Children), and the person's own funds used for support. Your contribution may not include any part of the person's support that was paid by the person with the person's own wages, even if you paid the wages. The person's own funds are not support unless they are actually spent for support.
Also, see Multiple Support Agreement. For more information regarding the dependent exemption, see IRS Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information at www.irs.ustreas.gov.
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To be divorced, you must have a final judgment for dissolution of marriage that is effective by the last day of the tax year. Living apart from your spouse or filing a petition for divorce is not the same as having a final decree of divorce.
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A foster child is a child who is in the care of a person or persons (other than the parents or adopted parents of the child) who care for the child as their own child. The foster relationship with the individual must have begun while the individual was a minor (i.e., under the age of 18). The circumstances under which the child became a member of the household does not affect his or her status as a foster child. A foster child is considered your child by blood if you are entitled to a dependent exemption credit for the child, your home was the main home of the child for the entire year, and the child's parent did not live in your home. However, if a government or a tax-exempt child placement agency makes payment to you as a foster parent, the child cannot be claimed as your dependent and you will not qualify for the head of household filing status on the basis of this child unless you provided more than half the child's total support. (See Keeping Up Your Home and Dependent Exemption Credit.)
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If you have joint custody of your child, to qualify for the head of household filing status you must still meet all the requirements for the filing status. These requirements include the following:
- Your child must have lived with you for more than half the year.
- You must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home.
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You are keeping up your home only if you pay more than one-half the cost of keeping up the home for the year. Generally, if two or more people keep up the same home, only one of the people could pay more than half the costs and qualify for the head of household filing status. If two or more families occupy the same dwelling but maintain separate finances, and each family does not contribute to the support of the other family, each family may be treated as keeping up a separate home. The taxpayer who provides more than one-half the cost of maintaining that separate home is treated as keeping up that separate home. To determine whether you paid more than one-half the cost of keeping up your home, complete the following worksheet.
Do not include costs of clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, transportation, rental value of a home you own, or value of your services for those of the person qualifying you as head of household. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (formerly Aid to Families with Dependent Children) payments you use to keep up your home do not count as amounts you paid.
| Amount You Paid | Total Cost | |
| Rent | $ | $ |
| Mortgage Interest | $ | $ |
| Property Taxes | $ | $ |
| Property Insurance | $ | $ |
| Utilities | $ | $ |
| Upkeep/Repairs | $ | $ |
| Food consumed on the premises | $ | $ |
| Other household expenses | $__________ | $__________ |
| Totals | $ | $ |
| Minus total amount you paid | $ ( ) | |
| Amount others paid | $ __________ |
If the above results show that you paid more than one-half the total cost, you meet the requirement of keeping up your home.
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To be legally separated, you must be separated from your spouse under a final decree of legal separation. A final decree of legal separation is not the same as an informal separation agreement, a petition for divorce or separation, or an interlocutory judgment for dissolution of marriage. Simply living apart from a spouse is not the same as being legally separated under a final decree of legal separation.
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For more than half the year, your home must be your main home and the main home of the person who you believe qualifies you for head of household filing status. Generally, the location of your and the other person's main home is determined by where you and the other person actually lived. You and the other person must have lived together in your home for more than half the year, except for temporary absences. (See Parent (Father or Mother) and Temporary Absence.)
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If you are not unmarried under the situations shown under Unmarried, you are married.
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Just because someone lived with you for six months does not mean that the person lived with you for more than half the year. A year has 365 days, and more than half the year is 183 days. (A leap year has 366 days, and more than half a leap year is 184 days.)
To determine how many days your home was a person’s main home, follow these guidelines:
- If you were not married at any time during the year, count all of the days that the person lived with you in your home.
- If you were married at any time during the year and were divorced
or legally separated as of the last day of the year, add together:
- Half the number of days that you, your spouse, and the person lived together, and
- All of the days that you and the person lived together in your home without your spouse.
- If you were married as of the last day of the year and you did not live with your spouse during the last six months of the year, add together:
- Half the number of days that you, your spouse, and the person lived together, and
- All of the days that you and the person lived together in your home without your spouse.
Do not include any time the person was in the custody of another person under either a formal or informal custody agreement.
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Sometimes no one provides more than half the support for an individual. Instead, two or more persons together provide more than half the individual's support, each of whom would be able to take the exemption credit but for the support test (see Dependent Exemption Credit). When this happens, those providing the support can agree that any one of them who individually provides more than 10% of the person’s support can take an exemption for that person.
If you can take an exemption credit for a person only because of a multiple support agreement, that person cannot qualify you for the head of household filing status.
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A U.S. national is an individual who, although not a U.S. citizen, owes allegiance to the U.S. This includes American Samoans and Northern Mariana Islanders who chose to become U.S. nationals instead of U.S. citizens. For more information, refer to federal Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens at www.irs.ustreas.gov, or contact your local Immigration and Naturalization Service.
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The parent who has custody of a child for the greater part of the year is the child’s custodial parent. The custodial parent is generally treated as the parent who provides more than half the child’s support.
However, the noncustodial parent will be treated as providing more than half the child’s support if:
- The custodial parent signs a written declaration (or federal Form 8332, Release to Claim Exemption for Child of Divorced Parents) that he or she will not claim the exemption for the child and the noncustodial parent attaches this written declaration to his or her return; or
- A decree or agreement went into effect after 1984 and it unconditionally states that the noncustodial parent can claim the dependent exemption credit for the child; or
- A decree or agreement executed before 1985 provides that the noncustodial parent is entitled to the exemption credit, and he or she provides at least $600 for the child's support during the year, unless the pre-1985 decree or agreement is modified after 1984 to specify that this provision will no apply.
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If you were a nonresident alien during any part of the year, you may not qualify for head of household filing status even though you may meet all of the other rules for the filing status.
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You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident alien spouse as a resident alien. Your spouse is not your relative and cannot be your qualifying person for the head of household filing status. You are considered married if you have chosen to treat your spouse as a resident alien. For more information, refer to federal Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens at www.irs.ustreas.gov.
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If you were unmarried and your qualifying person is your parent, you may be eligible for the head of household filing status even if your father or mother did not live with you. However, your parent must have been a citizen or national of the U.S., or a resident of the U.S. Canada, or Mexico. You must be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for your parent and you must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was your parent’s main home for the entire year. Your parent’s main home could have been his or her own home, such as a house or apartment, or could have been any other living accommodation.
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A qualifying person is a qualifying relative, including a foster child, who can qualify you for the head of household filing status. You may not claim yourself, your spouse, or your tax preparer as your qualifying person. (Also see the Qualification Requirements, Qualifying Relative, and Foster Child.)
Whether a relative may be your qualifying relative for the head of household filing status is determined by your marital status on the last day of the year.
If you were married on the last day of the year and did not live with your spouse during the last six months of the year, only your child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child for whom you are entitled to a dependent exemption credit may qualify you for the head of household filing status. (Also, see Unmarried, Considered Unmarried).
If you were unmarried on the last day of the year, any person who had the following relationship with you may qualify you for head of household filing status:
- Your child, grandchild, stepchild,
adopted child, or Foster Child who
is:
a. Single as of the last day of the year, (you must be able to claim a dependent exemption credit for your foster child), or
b. Married as of the last day of the year, if you are entitled to a dependent exemption credit for the child. If the only reason you are not entitled to a dependent exemption credit for your married child is because the child’s other parent to take the dependent exemption credit for the child under the special rules for a noncustodial parent, your married child may still qualify you for head of household filing status. - Any relative listed below for whom you may claim a dependent exemption credit.
| Parent | Stepbrother | Son-in-law | Stepsister |
| Grandparent | Stepmother | Daughter-in-law | Stepfather |
| Brother | Mother-in-law | Brother-in-law | Father-in-law |
| Sister | Uncle* | Sister-in-law | Nephew+ |
| Half Sister | Aunt* | Half Brother | Niece+ |
* An uncle or aunt may qualify you only if he or she is the brother or sister of your father or mother.
+ A nephew or niece may qualify only if he or she is the child of your brother or sister.
Any of the relationships listed under qualifying relative that were established when the taxpayer married, are not ended if the taxpayer divorces or his or her spouse dies.
A person who is not one of the relatives listed above cannot qualify you for the head of household filing status. Cousins are descendants of a brother or sister of your parents and do not qualify under the relationship test as relatives.
Under no circumstances shall the same person be used to qualify more than one taxpayer for the head of household filing status for the same year.
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A spouse is a married person, one's husband or wife by lawful marriage.
A stepchild is not your natural child but is the natural or adopted child of your spouse. To have a stepchild, you must have at some time been married to the child’s parent.
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Even if you, your spouse, or your qualifying person was temporarily absent from your home, you are considered to have occupied the same household. Temporary absences include those due to illness, education, business, vacations, military service, and, in some cases, incarceration. If you or the qualifying person were absent, it must have been reasonable to assume that you, your spouse, or your qualifying person would return to the household after the temporary absence, and you must have continued to maintain a household in anticipation of the return. Time your qualifying person was in the custody of another person under either a formal or informal custody agreement can not be considered a temporary absence.
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You were single (unmarried) if one of the following applied on the last day of the year:
- You had never married, or
- Your marriage was annulled and you did not marry after the annulment, or
- Your spouse died in a prior year and you did not remarry.
- You were legally divorced from your spouse under a final decree of divorce. Neither a petition for divorce nor an interlocutory decree of divorce is the same as a final decree of divorce. Until the final decree of divorce is issued, a married taxpayer remains married.
- You were legally separated from your spouse under a final decree of legal separation. A final decree of legal separation is not the same as an informal separation agreement, a petition for divorce or separation, or an interlocutory judgment for dissolution of marriage. Just living apart from your spouse is not the same as being legally separated under a final decree of legal separation.
You are unmarried for head of household purposes, if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident alien spouse as a resident alien.
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The date of your spouse's death determines whether you were married or unmarried for tax purposes.
If your spouse died during the year, you are considered as married at the end of the year, unless your spouse was a nonresident alien spouse at some time during the year.
If your spouse died in a prior year and you have not remarried, you were unmarried.
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