Married Filing Separately or Head Of Household

[TM01]

I got married July 2016. My spouse and I filed Married Filing Separately in 2017. We do not live together, never have.  Last year I did not claim my daughter, her mother did. This year I will be claiming her. I thought I would be filing Married filing Separately again, but I see that turbotax has me listed as Head of Household.  Is it OK to file this way even though I filed Married Filing Separately last year? And if so, does my spouse file Head of Household also? We still do not live together, and my spouse has dependents to claim also, same as last year. The only thing different this year, is that I will be claiming my daughter as a dependent.

[Coleen3 · Accepted solution]

Every tax year is separate. Circumstances change so you have to evaluate each year. If you did not live together the last six months of the tax year, and you meet the other qualifications, you are Head of Household. The fact that your mother claimed your child in 2016 is irrelevant. 

If you husband meets all of the qualifications as well, he can be HOH in his own household.

Head of Household

You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.

1. You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. See Marital Status , earlier, and Considered Unmarried , later.
2. You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
3. A qualifying person lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the qualifying person is your dependent parent, he or she doesn't have to live with you. See Special rule for parent , later, under Qualifying Person.

 https://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2016_publink1000220775