The Head of Household filing status is based on maintaining a home for a child, not a residence. However, there could be two circumstances where this would not be true. You can't have two HOHs in the same home and you can't be HOH in someone else's home.
You can be Head of
Household if you qualify.
You qualify if you:
- Were unmarried as of December 31, 2016 and
- Paid more than half the cost
to run your home (or the home of a qualifying parent who doesn't live with
you) in 2017 (rent, mortgage, utilities, etc.) and
- Supported a qualifying person who lived with you.
If you were still
legally married as of December 31 and a child lives with you, you may qualify
for Head of Household under a slightly different set of rules.
*Even if
you were legally married as of December 31, you are considered unmarried
(and therefore eligible for Head of Household) if all 5 of these conditions apply:
- You won't be filing jointly
with your spouse; and
- Your spouse didn't live in
your home after June (temporary absences due to illness, school, vacation,
business, or military service don't count); and
- Your home was your child's,
stepchild's, or foster child's main home for more than half the year
(non-child dependents in your home don't qualify); and
- You paid more than half the
costs of keeping up your home during the tax year; and
- You meet the qualifications
to claim the child as your dependent, even if the other (noncustodial)
parent is actually claiming the child as a dependent on their return
