head of household - Linkenheimer LLP CPAs & Advisors

Some Taxpayers Qualify for More Favorable “Head of Household” Tax Filing Status

When preparing your tax return, we’ll check one of the following statuses: Single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er). Filing a return as a head of household is more favorable than filing as a single taxpayer.

For example, the 2023 standard deduction for a single taxpayer is $13,850 while it’s $20,800 for a head of household taxpayer. To be eligible, you must maintain a household, which 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.

Basic rules

Who is a qualifying child? This is a child who:

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), and
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 […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2023-03-29T23:03:12+00:00March 29th, 2023|head of household|0 Comments

Who Qualifies for “Head of Household” Tax Filing Status?

When you file your tax return, you must check one of the following filing statuses: Single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household or qualifying widow(er). Who qualifies to file a return as a head of household, which is more favorable than single?

To qualify, you must maintain a household, which 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 (unless you only qualify due to the multiple support rules).

A qualifying child?

A child is considered qualifying if he or she:

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), and
Doesn’t provide over half of his or her own support for the year.

If a child’s parents are divorced, the child will qualify if he 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.

A person isn’t a “qualifying child” […]

By Linkenheimer LLP|2021-04-06T17:46:42+00:00April 6th, 2021|child, head of household, tax planning|0 Comments

Tax-Related Changes to Newly Passed California Propositions

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:05:54+00:00November 21st, 2012|CA props, CA tax, california, CPA, head of household, income tax, multi-state, prop 30, prop 39, propositions, tax|0 Comments

Californians can expect Head of Household Audit Letters

The California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) has mailed more than 120,000 audit letters to taxpayers to verify their head of household (HOH) filing status on their 2011 state income tax returns. Each year, the FTB reviews the tax returns of taxpayers who claim the HOH filing status because the qualifications are commonly misunderstood. Taxpayers can generally claim the HOH filing status if they are unmarried, have cared for a qualified person for more than half the year, and paid more than half the cost of maintaining their home.

Taxpayers who do not qualify will have their tax reassessed using either the single or married-filing-separate filing status. Nearly 28,000 California taxpayers who claimed the HOH status last year did not meet its requirements.

The FTB encourages taxpayers who receive an HOH audit letter to respond promptly by completing the enclosed questionnaire. Failure to respond could result in a tax assessment and penalty.

News Release, California Franchise Tax. Board, August 8, 2012

By Linkenheimer LLP|2020-09-03T20:06:02+00:00August 13th, 2012|audit, CPA, head of household, HOH, letter, Linkenheimer, Santa Rosa, state income, taxpayers california franchise tax board|0 Comments