HoH vs married filing jointly

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
May 16, 2020
7 replies
72 views

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?

Best answer by bluedeb

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:

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

bluedeb

Answer

Alumni - Champ

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:

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

Level 15

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.

jyeh74Author

Level 6

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

Alumni - Champ

@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).