HoH vs married filing jointly

[jyeh74]

For a couple not legally married with single income, is it better to file as head of household or get officially married and file as married filing jointly?  

Wouldn’t HoH give better tax benefits?

[bluedeb · Accepted solution]

When you are not married, you can only file as Single or if you qualify Head of Household.  No one can tell you to get married just for taxes.

Do I qualify for Head of Household in 2019?

You can qualify for Head of Household if you:

1. Were unmarried as of December 31, 2019 and
2. Paid more than half the cost to run your (or a qualifying parent's) home this year(rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.) and
3. Supported a qualifying person.

If you were still legally married as of December 31, 2019 and a child lives with you, you can qualify for Head of Household under a slightly different set of rules. Read more

After you answer all the questions about yourself and your dependents at the beginning of your return, we'll let you know if your situation qualifies for Head of Household.

You can also revisit these questions by selecting My Info (online) or Personal Info (software), and then selecting Edit next to your name or your dependent's.

[Texas Roger]

There is no way to answer that without knowing details of your tax situation and who is the qualifying person to allow one of you to file as head of household. You could fill out tax returns each way and see which resulted in the lowest amount of taxes. You must be married by year end 2020 to file a married filing jointly tax return for 2020 in early 2021. 

[jyeh74]

Assume this person has a $150k W2 with two kids as HoH.  

Now assume this person has the same $150k W2 with two kids as married filing jointly.  

Does that help?

[bluedeb · Accepted solution]

@jyeh74  Even if you get married in 2020, you cannot use Married Filing Joint on your 2019 return, you would have to wait until you file your 2020 tax return (filed in 2021).  Not to mention that no one should tell you what filing status to use when you are not even married yet.  Whether you get married is up to you and your girl/guy.  

For 2019, you can use Head of Household if you quality (requirements in my answer above).

[jyeh74]

Of course this person qualifies to be able to claim HoH.  I already told you that.  Assume the two scenarios.  Was asking if this person is better of in one vs the other in the upcoming tax year.  Not asking for martial advice. 

[bluedeb · Accepted solution]

@jyeh74  And I already told you we cannot assume both scenarios, we know nothing of their tax information & it is not up to a user forum to tell you which filing status is better.  As stated above they would have to enter their information each way to see what filing status would be for them.

[VolvoGirl]

Set up another online account to test and do it as Married Joint.  You don't have to pay unless you want to print it out.  I have several online accounts to test answers in.

You can use the same email address for 5 accounts.   How to start another return in the Online version

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/using-turbotax/help/how-do-i-start-another-return-in-turbotax-onli...

Or if you have the Desktop CD/Download program you can do unlimited returns and there is a What-If worksheet.  And the Desktop program has more features and advantages over the online version.