When filing your individual tax return, you must also select your filing status, which will either be single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er). Only some people are eligible to file a return as a head of household, so if you’re one of them, you’re in a more favorable tax position than filing as a single taxpayer.

To illustrate, the 2025 standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $15,000. However, it’s $22,500 for a head of household taxpayer. To be eligible, you must maintain a household that, for more than half the year, is the principal home of a “qualifying child” or other relative of yours whom you can claim as a dependent.

Tax law fundamentals

A qualifying child must meet all the following requirements:

• Lives in your home for more than half the year.
• Is your child, stepchild, adopted child, foster child, sibling, stepsibling (or a descendant of any of these).
• Is under age 19 (or a student under 24).
• Doesn’t provide over half of his or her own support for the year.

If the parents are divorced, the child will qualify if he or she meets these tests for the custodial parent — even if that parent released his or her right to a dependency exemption for the child to the noncustodial parent. 

Can both parents claim head of household status if they live together but aren’t married? According to the IRS, the answer is no. Only one parent can claim head of household status for a qualifying child. A person can’t be a “qualifying child” if he or she is married and can file a joint tax return with a spouse. Special “tie-breaker” rules apply if the individual can be a qualifying child of more than one taxpayer.

The IRS considers you to “maintain a household” if you live in the home for the tax year and pay over half the cost of running it. In measuring the cost, include house-related expenses incurred for the mutual benefit of household members, including property taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, insurance on the property, repairs and upkeep, and food consumed in the home. Don’t include medical care, clothing, education, life insurance or transportation.

Providing your parent a home 

Under a special rule, you can qualify as head of household if you maintain a home for your parent even if you don’t live with him or her. To qualify under this rule, you must be able to claim the parent as your dependent.

You can’t be married

You must be single to claim head of household status. Suppose you’re unmarried because you’re widowed. In that case, you can use the married filing jointly rates as a “surviving spouse” for two years after the year of your spouse’s death if your dependent child, stepchild, adopted child or foster child lives with you, and you maintain the household. The joint rates are more favorable than the head of household rates.

If you’re married, you must file jointly or separately — not as head of household. However, if you’ve lived apart from your spouse for the last six months of the year and your dependent child, stepchild, adopted child or foster child lives with you, and you “maintain the household,” you’re treated as unmarried. If this is the case, you can qualify as head of household.

Here to Help 

The April 15 filing deadline is quickly approaching. If you’d like to learn more about the most favorable tax filing status for you, contact our team below.