Can I claim head of household?

[anessamarie96]

My husband only gets social security and VA compensation and is not required to file taxes. How do I go about getting all the credits still? He owes child support, so I do not want to file jointly. 

[VolvoGirl · Accepted solution]

If you are married you can't claim Head of Household.  You need to be Single or live apart from him the last 6 months of the year and  have a qualifying child.  Do you have any income yourself?  If you file Married Filing Separately you can not get most credit like the

EITC Earned Income Tax Credit

Child Care Credit

Educational Deductions and Credits

You can file Joint and file an Injured spouse form 8379 with your return to protect your part of any refund.

[xmasbaby0]

If you file a joint return you do not enter VA benefits he receives since they are not taxable, but his SSA1099 for Social Security must be entered----and even if you file separately, then he would have to file MFS also and enter the SSA1099 on his own return--just not the VA benefits.   

You cannot file as HOH if you have lived together all year.   Your filing choices are marred filing separately or married filing jointly.   As VolvoGirl suggested, you could file a joint return and include the injured spouse form to protect your part of the refund.  That form will delay processing.

INJURED SPOUSE

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1910698-how-do-i-file-form-8379-injured-spouse-allocation

To use Form 8379 to report Injured Spouse:  Go to

Federal>Other Tax Situations>Other Tax Forms

On Miscellaneous tax forms, click start or update for Report an Innocent or Injured Spouse

[xmasbaby0]

If you were legally married at the end of 2024 your filing choices are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

Married Filing Jointly is usually better, even if one spouse had little or no income. When you file a joint return, you and your spouse will get the married filing jointly standard deduction of $29,200 (+ $1550 for each spouse 65 or older)  for 2024. You are eligible for more credits including education credits, earned income credit, child and dependent care credit, and a larger income limit to receive the child tax credit. 

If you choose to file married filing separately, both spouses have to file the same way—either you both itemize or you both use standard deduction. Your tax rate will be higher than on a joint return.

 Some of the special rules for filing separately include: you cannot get earned income credit, education credits, adoption credits, or deductions for student loan interest. A higher percent of your Social Security benefits may be taxable. Your limit for SALT (state and local taxes and sales tax) will be only $5000 per spouse. In many cases you will not be able to take the child and dependent care credit. The amount you can contribute to a retirement account will be affected. If you live in a community property state, you will be required to provide additional information regarding your spouse’s income. ( Community property states:  AZ, CA, ID, LA, NV, NM, TX, WA, WI)

 If  you are using online TurboTax to prepare your returns, you will need to prepare two separate returns and pay twice since with online, you get one return per fee.

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-married-filing-jointly-vs-married-filing-separately

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1901162-married-filing-separately-in-community-property-states

https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/1894449-is-it-better-for-a-married-couple-to-file-jointly-or-separ...

[Hal_Al]

Q.  Can I claim head of household?

A.  No. You cannot file Single either. Your only choices are Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately. 

Q. My husband only gets social security and VA compensation and is not required to file taxes.

A.  He does "have to" file taxes.  Although Social security (SS) only becomes taxable when added to sufficient other income, all SS is reportable for a person required to file as Married Filing Separately (MFS)*.  He would have to file MFS, if you filed separately.

Q. How do I go about getting all the credits still?

A. You must file as Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) to get the more generous credits. 

Q. He owes child support, so I do not want the IRS to take MY refund. 

A. You can file jointly and file an Injured Spouse Allocation Form 8379 with your return.  That will keep the IRS from taking your refund. To access that in TurboTax, type> form 8379, injured spouse <in the find (search) box. Then click find. Then click on Jump to…. You will be taken to questions about Innocent Spouse and Injured Spouse. Do not check anything on Innocent Spouse (that comes up first) and check the information on Injured Spouse.

*Social security (including SSDI) becomes taxable when your income, including 1/2 your social security, reaches:

Married Filing Jointly(MFJ): $32,000

Single or head of household: $25,000

Married Filing Separately and lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year: $0.

You may be thinking that  filing Married Filing Separately (MFS) is going to save you money, because you won't have to add your spouse’s income to your return. That thinking is usually wrong. There is a special rule that says SS becomes taxable at zero ($0) other income when Filing as MFS. The doubled standard deduction will usually wipe out most of the spouse’s income, on a joint return. And you will still get the use the lower joint filing rates and claim the credits.