Filing Status - Head of Household

[DSandPam]

I have a friend that has been divorced for 10+years. She had been planning to file Head of Household. She then got married near the end of the year. Her and her new husband did not share income or expenses until the very end of the year and had decided not to file jointly. Both married filing separately and married filing jointly costs her a lot more on taxes than head of household. After reading the rules over and over, it seems like the intent of the "Considered Unmarried" clause is to allow someone who is paying all of the bills to not get taxed as if she were sharing expenses with an ex-husband. However, since the actual wording states that a person cannot have lived with her husband for the past 6 months of the year - but that reference is to an ex-husband and does not refer to a new husband. It seems reasonable that she should be able to file head of household, but it is not clear. I would like some guidance on whether she can claim head of household or not.

[Vanessa A]

No, she cannot claim head of household since she was married and living with her spouse on December 31. She would have had to be living separate from her spouse from July 1- December 31 in order to claim Head of Household. 

[DSandPam]

Thanks for your quick response.  I believe the requirement you state is to make sure she has paid for her own household for at least 6 months of the year in case she is just separated from her original husband but still married to him.  But in the case I am stating, my friend only lived with her new spouse for 2 months and paid for her own support for 10 months.  When it is a new spouse and not the original spouse, it seems to me that the requirement should change.  Have you seen anything that would address this case?  The requirement is written in a way where it only handles one of these situations...

[Vanessa A · Accepted solution]

When it comes to IRS rules, unless there is a specific exception, it is the rule.  The IRS specifically allows the exception for the last 6 months of the year.  Since there is no exception that allows you to claim head of household for the first part of the year and the law specifically states your status on December 31, there is no way around this.  

[DSandPam]

Thank you Vanessa.  I was suspecting such, but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing anything.

[jeanannie]

i moved into my apartment on September 1, 2021 can i qualify as head of household. i have 2 children.

[TeresaM]

It depends. To qualify for Head of Household all of these must be true.
 

• you must have paid more than half the cost to run the home this year (rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.) for a qualifying person.
• The qualifying person must have lived with you for more than 6 months.
• be unmarried as of December 31, 2021  (note, if you separated during 2021 but are still legally married, there is an alternative list of qualifications.)

If you were unmarried and your two children lived with you for more than 6 months in 2021, that just leaves supporting more than 1/2 of the base expenses for their home over the course of the year. If what you paid in your old home + what you have paid since you moved into the apartment in September averages out to more than one half, then you should qualify.

If you were still legally married as of December 31, 202, please see this TurboTax Help article for the alternative way to qualify. Married Head of Household qualifiers