Eligibility

To file as head of household, you must be unmarried at the end of the tax year, must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home and have a qualifying person who lived in your home for at least half the year.

Benefits

Head of household filers generally have a lower tax rate than single or married filing separate filers. In addition, the standard deduction for the head of household filing status is $8,350, whereas the standard deduction for single and married filing separate filers is $5,700, and $11,400 for married filing joint.

Warning

Only one taxpayer per household is eligible to file head of household. If more than one person files head of household per household, the Internal Revenue Service may initiate an audit to determine which taxpayer is eligible to claim the filing status.