It depends. The rules for filing as head of household are explained below.
- To file as head of household you must furnish over one-half of the cost of maintaining the household for you and a qualifying person (children). If you are not married, and if you do not live with the other parent then you can decide if you pay more than half of the household expenses (money from child support would be considered your money to pay for the home, however any state funds would not be considered your fund for providing the home).
- Generally, to qualify for head of household filing status, you must be able to claim a qualifying child or qualifying relative as a dependent. However, a custodial parent may be eligible to claim head of household filing status based on a child even if the custodial parent released a claim to exemption for the child.
- If you are married, to be considered unmarried at the end of a tax year, your spouse may not be a member of your household during the last 6 months of the tax year and you must meet other requirements.
Once you have had a chance to review this information, step through the Personal Information and Filing Status section to see if you answered a question incorrectly,
As far as the earned income tax credit (EITC), you must have income from work to qualify. Check out this information to see if you qualify: Qualifications for EITC
Please update here if you have more questions with more details and we can be more specific.