@fanfare Military deployment - their status - is not considered living apart.
A married taxpayer needs to meet the “considered unmarried” rules to file HOH. To be “considered unmarried” for tax purposes in order to file as HOH you must meet all of the following requirements:
- You must file a separate return from your spouse (Married Filing Separately).
- You must have provided more than half the cost of maintaining your home for the tax year.
- The home must have been the principal place of abode for you and your dependent son, daughter, or eligible foster child (that meets the qualifying child or qualifying relative tests to be claimed as your dependent) for more than half the tax year. But don’t worry, this will include a child who would be your dependent except that the exemption was released to the noncustodial parent.
- Your spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the tax year. This does not include those situations in which the spouse is living away from the home temporarily (job assignment, military deployment, temporary incarceration).
