I lived in two different homes, both in the same state. In the first I paid for 100% of the costs for 8 mos and the second I paid half the costs for 4 mos. Filing Status?

[kmharrison1]

I am not clear as to whether I can list both places of residence when I file or if my filing status is determined by my last place of residence.

[Carl]

Is this a state tax thing? If so, what state?
The federal return doesn't ask you for  your residence address. It does ask for your mailing address, and the address you put there is the address where you want the IRS to send any correspondence concerning this specific federal tax return.

[kmharrison1]

I ran out of characters, I mean that in the apt that I lived in for 8 months I was the head of household since I paid 100% of the costs of the utilities and rent and so on but I have moved in with a roommate and we split the costs in the new apt for the remaining 4 months of 2017. So I am trying to find out how that affects my filing status as Head of Household or Single.

[Coleen3 · Accepted solution]

Head of Household is not determined by whether or not you live in a house with someone. It is a filing status designed to benefit unmarried persons who care for their children or parents. See the qualifications below.

You can be Head of Household if you qualify.

You qualify if you:

1. Were unmarried as of December 31, 2016 and
2. 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
3. Supported a qualifying person who lived with you. 

*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:

1. You won't be filing jointly with your spouse; and
2. 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
3. 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
4. You paid more than half the costs of keeping up your home during the tax year; and
5. 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.

[kmharrison1]

Does me filing as Head of Household affect my roommates filing status now that are both in the same household?

[Coleen3]

Do you have a child living with you? Are your elderly parents your dependents? If not, you are single. There can only be one HOH per house. If you are, he can't be.

[kmharrison1]

Yes I have my children living with me. I didn't know if there were a sspecial case since I was head of household in a different address for so many months

[Coleen3]

No, it follows the rules listed above. The only difference is 1) there can't be two HOH in the same home and 2) if you lived in the home of another married couple, you can't be HOH in THEIR home, and 3) since you have to pay more than half the cost of maintaining the home, the more roommates you have, the less like it is that you are paying more than half.

[Carl]

The above is true in a majority of situations where you have no formal contract with the roommate and it's just basically a cost sharing arraignment. Example:
You are renting your apt and you are the one who signed the lease. A friend moves in with you and pays half the rent. There is NO formal, enforceable rental agreement between you and the roommate. Its' just a cost sharing arraignment is all. The room mate pays half the rent, you pay the other half. Nothing is official, in writing or recorded anywhere. The room mate has no legal oblication to *your* landlord to pay jack squat. In this case, the roommate is giving you a gift of half the rent every month, so *you* are maintaining the household. If you signed the lease, you are the only one obligated to pay anyway.
Now if you're in a state that offers a renter's credit, more than likely your room mate wants their cut of that credit, if they're helping pay rent. That would call for a formal, legally enforceable rental agreement between you and the roommate if *YOU* are the one renting out space that *YOU* do not own and pay rent for. (Most rental agreements explicitly do not allow you to sub-let) In this case, you are collecting the rent as a landlord, and you are responsible for "maintaining the household" in it's entirety, since as a landlord you are responsible for the real estate being rented by your roommate. (If the rental agreement is with you, then *YOU* are the responsible party, not the land lord you pay as *your* landlord has no agreement or legal obligations to your roommate tenant) In this case, the rent you receive from the tenant (and report as income on your tax return of course!) is "YOUR" money now. So when you pay *you* landlord, it's *you* that is paying 100% of the rent that *you* are legally obligated to pay.
It's all semantics and matters how you set things up, as well as the wording in all rental agreement/contracts.