topic Head of Household and Form 8958 in State tax filing

Head of Household and Form 8958

separate899 — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 07:28:33 GMT

I am in California and going through divorce proceedings. I am eligible to file as head of household, but there is some community income that needs to be allocated to my spouse. Can I file as head of household and also submit form 8958? I only see references to filing MFS for Form 8958. Thank you!

Re: Head of Household and Form 8958

Bsch4477 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 20:08:53 GMT

That form is only for those filing married separately. If f the income in question was truly not received by you, you could report “other income “ in that amount as a negative number and designated as flow through to spouse but be prepared to justify it in case of an audit with proper documentation.

Re: Head of Household and Form 8958

Mike9241 — Sun, 04 Dec 2022 20:28:55 GMT

it seems 8958 is only for married filing separate couples.

there is IRS PUB 555 which discusses community property reporting

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf

reporting depends on wether you lived apart all year or not

from the pub

Spouses living apart all year.

If you are married at any time during the calendar year, special rules apply for reporting certain community income. You must meet all the following conditions for these special rules to apply.

1. You and your spouse lived apart all year.
2. You and your spouse didn't file a joint return for a tax
year beginning or ending in the calendar year.
3. You and/or your spouse had earned income for the
calendar year that is community income.
4. You and your spouse haven't transferred, directly or
indirectly, any of the earned income in condition (3)
above between yourselves before the end of the year.
Don't take into account transfers satisfying child support obligations or transfers of very small amounts or
value.
If all these conditions are met, you and your spouse must
report your community income as discussed next.

generally, the one that earned the income reports it - wages, business income, separate property income, social security benefits and certain other categories

Other income. Treat all other community income, such as dividends, interest, rents, royalties, or gains, as
provided under your state's community property law.

if not apart all year

Other separated spouses. If you and your spouse are
separated but don't meet the four conditions discussed
earlier under Spouses living apart all year, you must treat
your income according to the laws of your state. In some
states, income earned after separation but before a decree of divorce continues to be community income. In
other states, it is separate income.

the IRS does not have a form for your situation.

Re: Head of Household and Form 8958

separate899 — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 16:07:38 GMT

Hi @Bsch4477 , I have a follow-up question on filing HoH and the California community property income. Do I also need to split the self-employment tax, donations, essentially all other deductions? Can I?

Re: Head of Household and Form 8958

Bsch4477 — Wed, 14 Dec 2022 19:39:01 GMT

Your situation is complicated by what is considered community property and how deductions should be split. You really should have a local attorney or tax profesional help you with this so that you and your soon to be ex spouse don’t have a conflict.