Can anyone help me please? I have a question about head of household. If renting a place, we live together and pay the bills together, can we both claim head of household

[PattiF]

It depends, if each of you had a dependent to claim and were qualified in other ways, then there could be two head of households. 

But if there are only two people in the household, then there are not two households. A dependent is needed to claim head of household status along with paying more than half the cost of maintaining the home.

[Hal_Al]

Q. Can we both claim head of household?

A. Simple answer: No.  The rule is that you must have paid more than half the household expenses. If you paid half, the other person must have paid less than half.

That answer assumes you are a couple living together. Theoretically yes; but from a practical application, no. 

If this is a roommate situation, rather than a family, maybe. 

If you and your roommate can show that you each are maintaining separate households within the same structure. If you paid over one-half of the expenses attributable to yourself and your dependent children and She also paid over one-half the expenses attributable to herself and her dependent children. Even if you split the main costs like rent and utilities 50/50, but do separate food bills, and separate phone lines, you probably meet the requirement for "maintaining separate households".

If your situation closely matches the IRS "Acknowledged Significant Advice" at the link below, you probably qualify. http://www.unclefed.com/ForTaxProfs/irs-wd/1998/1998-041.pdf

It's a tough standard to meet and most living arrangements will not qualify. If it's family and not unrelated people, like 2 single moms sharing a residence, it's even more unlikely. If you try it, be prepared to prove it with detailed accounting records of household expenses.

https://www.thebalance.com/two-heads-of-household-3193038

[Mike9241]

costs may be included for the over 50% test

Cost of maintaining a household. A taxpayer shall be considered as maintaining a household only if he pays more than one-half the cost thereof for his taxable year. The cost of maintaining a household shall be the expenses incurred for the mutual benefit of the occupants thereof by reason of its operation as the principal place of abode of such occupants for such taxable year. The cost of maintaining a household shall not include expenses otherwise incurred. The expenses of maintaining a household include property taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utility charges, upkeep and repairs, property insurance, and food consumed on the premises. Such expenses do not include the cost of clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, and transportation. In addition, the cost of maintaining a household shall not include any amount which represents the value of services rendered in the household by the taxpayer or by a person qualifying the taxpayer as a head of a household or as a surviving spouse.

so if the qualifying costs were exactly split 50/50 neither of you would qualify for head of household!