Skip to main content
Level 2
March 2, 2021
Solved

Can I change my filing status from, Filing jointly 2018 to house hold 2019 and now back to filing jointly for 2020 ? Is it going to cause any issues?

  • March 2, 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 37 views
No text available
Best answer by DoninGA

You can change your filing status each tax year as long as you are eligible for the filing status you enter.

6 replies

DoninGA
Level 15
DoninGALevel 15Answer
Level 15
March 2, 2021

You can change your filing status each tax year as long as you are eligible for the filing status you enter.

mfss03Author
Level 2
March 2, 2021

To be honest, the tax office where I do my taxes was the one who changed it to house hold. I did not even know how to qualify for houehold. Now, I am the one trying to do my taxes for 2020, I wan to do filing jointly because I do not think that "Household" Really fits me and my wife.

DoninGA
Level 15
Level 15
March 2, 2021

@mfss03 wrote:

To be honest, the tax office where I do my taxes was the one who changed it to house hold. I did not even know how to qualify for houehold. Now, I am the one trying to do my taxes for 2020, I wan to do filing jointly because I do not think that "Household" Really fits me and my wife.


There are very specific requirements to have Head of Household filing status when you are legally married.

  1. You won't be filing jointly with your spouse
  2. Your spouse didn't live in your home after June (temporary absences due to illness, school, vacation, business, or military service don't count)
  3. Your home was your child's, stepchild's, or foster child's main home for more than half the year (non-child dependents in your home don't qualify)
  4. You paid more than half the costs of keeping up your home during the tax year
  5. You meet the qualifications to claim the child as your dependent, even if the other (noncustodial) parent is actually claiming the child as a dependent on their return