{"id":13411,"date":"2016-02-08T07:05:22","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T07:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resource-center.hrblock.com\/?p=13411"},"modified":"2020-05-11T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2020-05-11T18:33:05","slug":"requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Mishap: What if I filed as Single instead of Head of Household?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Monday-Mishap_final-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-13230\" src=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Monday-Mishap_final-2.jpg\" alt=\"Monday-Mishap_final\" width=\"200\" height=\"178\" \/><\/a>If you are unmarried, divorced or legally separated, you may think that you can only file your return as single.<\/p>\n<p>However, if you have dependents, you may be able to file as head of household. That means you will be <a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.com\/articles\/2015-federal-tax-rates-personal-exemptions-and-standard-deductions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">taxed at a lower bracket and your standard deduction will increase<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>You can generally file as head of household if all of the following requirements are met:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/how-to-choose-tax-filing-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">unmarried or considered unmarried<\/a> on the last day of the year, and<\/li>\n<li>You either:\n<ul>\n<li>Maintain as your home a household that is the principal place of abode for more than half the year for a <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.irs.gov\/app\/vita\/content\/globalmedia\/head_of_household_qualifying_person_4012.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">qualifying person<\/a>, or<\/li>\n<li>Maintain a home that is the principal place of abode for more than half the year for your father or mother if you are entitled to claim a dependency exemption for them (the parent does not need to live with you).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Head of household can also sometimes be used by taxpayers who would not otherwise file as single. For example, what if you\u2019re still married and separated, but not legally separated? In this situation, you can\u2019t file as single; however, you can still claim head of household filing status if you\u2019re \u201cconsidered unmarried\u201d on the last day of the year. To be \u201cconsidered unmarried\u201d, you must either be married to a nonresident alien, or meet all of the following tests:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You file a separate return<\/li>\n<li>You pay for more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the tax year<\/li>\n<li>Your spouse has not lived in your home during the last six months of the tax year. However, your spouse is considered to live in your home if they are only temporarily absent, such as because of illness, education, business, vacation, or military orders.<\/li>\n<li>You have a child, stepchild or eligible foster child, and your home was the main home of your child for more than half of the tax year.<\/li>\n<li>You can claim your child, stepchild or eligible foster child as a dependent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you met the requirements to file as head of household but filed as single instead, don\u2019t worry; you didn\u2019t do anything wrong. However, you\u2019re likely leaving a lot of money on the table that could go toward maximizing your refund or reducing your tax liability.<\/p>\n<p>For example, in 2015 the normal standard deduction for a single or married filing separate return is <strong>$2,950 less<\/strong> than the standard deduction available on the return of someone filing as head of household.<\/p>\n<p>Do you need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/how-to-amend-tax-return\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">amend your return<\/a> to claim head of household instead of single? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrblock.com\/tax-offices\/local-offices\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Make an appointment at an H&amp;R Block office now.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you are unmarried, divorced or legally separated, you may think that you can only file your return as single. However, if you have dependents, you may be able to file as head of household. That means you will be taxed at a lower bracket and your standard deduction will increase. You can generally file [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":418,"featured_media":26470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,125],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-tax-planning","category-filing"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Requirements for Filing as Head of Household| H&amp;R Block<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Monday Mishap: What if I filed as Single instead of Head of Household?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-08T07:05:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-05-11T18:33:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@hrblock\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"H&amp;R Block\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/\",\"name\":\"Requirements for Filing as Head of Household| H&R Block\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-08T07:05:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-05-11T18:33:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/f4718b72c980dd652973129a5e10b6e9\"},\"description\":\"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Monday Mishap: What if I filed as Single instead of Head of Household?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/f4718b72c980dd652973129a5e10b6e9\",\"name\":\"H&amp;R Block\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3f2ab55aa4ed027afc8ce9fd703aa438b2279c917744a6f2b3741d614ca47b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3f2ab55aa4ed027afc8ce9fd703aa438b2279c917744a6f2b3741d614ca47b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"H&amp;R Block\"},\"description\":\"The social media team at H&amp;R Block works to provide valuable tax and personal finance information to clients - and potential clients.\"}]}<\/script>","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Requirements for Filing as Head of Household| H&R Block","description":"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Monday Mishap: What if I filed as Single instead of Head of Household?","og_description":"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.","og_url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/","og_site_name":"H&amp;R Block","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hrblock","article_published_time":"2016-02-08T07:05:22+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-05-11T18:33:05+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg","width":1024,"height":370,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"H&amp;R Block","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@hrblock","twitter_site":"@hrblock","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"H&amp;R Block","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/","name":"Requirements for Filing as Head of Household| H&R Block","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg","datePublished":"2016-02-08T07:05:22+00:00","dateModified":"2020-05-11T18:33:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/f4718b72c980dd652973129a5e10b6e9"},"description":"If you are filing as single or head of household, there are some guidelines to know. Read on to learn what the filing status requirements are for your taxes.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/head-of-household-1024x370.jpg","width":1024,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/filing\/personal-tax-planning\/requirements-for-filing-as-head-of-household\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Monday Mishap: What if I filed as Single instead of Head of Household?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#website","url":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/","name":"H&amp;R Block","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/f4718b72c980dd652973129a5e10b6e9","name":"H&amp;R Block","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3f2ab55aa4ed027afc8ce9fd703aa438b2279c917744a6f2b3741d614ca47b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3f2ab55aa4ed027afc8ce9fd703aa438b2279c917744a6f2b3741d614ca47b2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"H&amp;R Block"},"description":"The social media team at H&amp;R Block works to provide valuable tax and personal finance information to clients - and potential clients."}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/418"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrbcomlnp.hrblock.com\/tax-center\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}