Can two people file as head of household?

Two people can claim head of household while living in the same home, but both will have to meet the qualifications for head of household that we discuss above. Here’s a recap: You both must be unmarried. You both must be able to claim a dependent who is related to you. You both must have paid for more than half the cost of keeping up the portion of the home and living costs for you and your dependent. Each of your dependents must have lived at your residence for more than half the year (unless your dependent is an elderly parent and you’re covering more than half the cost of their care outside the home). 6 If you’re married, neither you nor your spouse qualify to file as head of household. You’ll have to file as married filing jointly or married filing separately instead.

Can I claim my boyfriend/girlfriend as a dependent?

Okay guys, this one’s sticky, so let’s break it down. We’ll start by saying we never recommend mixing your personal finances with someone you’re not married to—and that includes how you file your income taxes. It always causes unnecessary complications you can easily avoid by keeping all your money separate until you’re married. Now, with all that said, yes, you can claim a boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent on your federal taxes if they meet Uncle Sam’s criteria for a “qualifying relative.” And that’s because you don’t have to be a relative to be . . . wait for it . . . a qualifying relative. No, we’re not kidding. Clear as mud, right? Stick with us. Here’s the catch: You can’t use a boyfriend or girlfriend as the qualifying relative required for filing as head of household. And that’s because the person you’re helping support must be a qualifying child or qualifying relative and they must be related to you. 7 So the not-so-short answer is you can claim your boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent, and that may help you with tax credits and deductions, but it won’t help you save money by filing head of household.

Can I claim head of household without dependents?

Normally, you have to claim a child or dependent to qualify for head of household status. The only exception might happen when you’re a single parent without custody of your child, but you still meet all the qualifications to claim them as a dependent. In other words, you may be able to claim head of household if you’re unmarried, paid for more than half of the costs to house your child (even though you don’t have custody of them), and your child qualifies as a dependent. But keep in mind that in order for your child to qualify as a dependent, they have to live with you for more than half the year. And if your child does qualify as a dependent, you definitely want to take advantage of tax credits aimed at helping people with dependents save some dough, like the child tax credit and the child and dependent care credit .

Single vs. Head of Household: How Should I File My Taxes?

9 Min Read | Oct 3, 2023

By Ramsey

Picture this: You’re sitting on the couch on a quiet Sunday afternoon, watching Bluey reruns, minding your own business. Then the doorbell rings. You drop the popcorn bowl all over the floor as you stumble toward the door. You open it to find a tall, skinny guy sporting a beard, striped pants, a blue waistcoat, and a top hat in stars and stripes. “Need help filing your tax return?” he asks.

Uncle Sam? On your front doorstep? Offering one-on-one guidance for filing your taxes?

That would be amazing, right? But reality check—this is the government we’re talking about.

Listen, folks—when Uncle Sam (er, the IRS) contacts someone, it’s usually not good news. And the Tax Man going door-to-door offering his infinite wisdom to us, the taxpayers? Forget about it. It’s up to us to do our research and learn how to do our taxes. And filing your tax return the right way starts with choosing the right filing status for your tax return.

So let’s look at the difference between a single and head of household filing status, then we’ll discuss why your filing status can make a huge difference in how much you owe in taxes or how big a refund you can expect.

Key Takeaways

Head of household filing status has two main advantages over filing single or married filing separately—more of your taxable income falls under lower tax brackets and you get a higher standard deduction.

There are several qualifications you have to meet to file as head of household, including providing more than half of the costs for housing or caring for a qualifying child or dependent.

Heads of household must be unmarried on the last day of the tax year and not be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.

What Is the Head of Household Filing Status?

The head of household filing status is an alternative to filing single or married filing separately. It’s meant to give parents or adults who are taking care of a dependent a tax break.

Think of your filing status as the compass of your tax return. It points you in the right direction of your tax rate and brackets, as well as your eligibility for tax credits and deductions. And these, in turn, affect how much you owe Uncle Sam. So going with the wrong filing status can be costly, but how do you know if you even qualify for head of household status? Let’s take a look.

Who Can File as Head of Household?

Okay, folks. The head of household status is aimed at single, divorced, or legally separated parents with custody of their child. You can also be an adult who is supporting a parent or other relative under qualifying circumstances. Let’s break it down.

To qualify for head of household, you have to meet a few important criteria:

You must be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year.
You must have a qualifying child or dependent (more on who qualifies as a child or dependent below).
Your qualifying child or dependent must be related to you and have lived with you for more than 183 days in the year (more than half the year).
You must pay for more than half of the household expenses.

You also have to file an individual tax return and not be claimed as a dependent yourself on someone else’s return.¹

Speaking of dependents, let’s review the qualifications for being a tax dependent next.

Who Qualifies as a Child or Dependent?

One of the criteria for filing head of household is having a qualifying child or dependent. A tax dependent is a person other than you and your spouse who relies on you financially and qualifies for certain tax deductions and credits on your tax return.

Don’t settle for tax software with hidden fees or agendas. Use one that’s on your side—Ramsey SmartTax.

Think children, elderly parents or other family members who rely on you for food, housing, medical expenses or clothing.

To claim a child as your dependent, they must meet the following qualifications:²

Relationship: They can be your daughter, son, stepchild, adopted child, foster child or grandchild. Or they can be your brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister, or a descendant of any of them (aka your niece or nephew).
Age: They must be under the age of 19 by the end of the tax year and also be younger than you. If they are a student, they must be under the age of 24. Anyone who has a permanent disability, regardless of age, also qualifies.
Citizenship: They must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. resident alien, a U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
Residence: They must live with you for more than half the year.
Income: Their annual income can’t be more than half of what it costs you to support them.
Tax status: They can’t also file a joint return for the year. What this means is that you would not be able to claim someone who is married and filing a joint tax return. For example, let’s say you have a recently married, college-aged child. If they file a joint tax return with their spouse, you can’t claim them as a dependent—even if you supported them for most of the year.

Figuring out if your adult relative qualifies as a dependent can be tricky. For one thing, they don’t even have to be a relative (more on that below). Let’s look at the key requirements:³

Relationship and residence: They don’t have to be a relative—but if they aren’t, they do have to live with you for the entire year. If they’re a relative, they don’t have to live with you.
Age: They can be any age—your great-grandfather can be your dependent.
Citizenship: They must be a U.S. citizen, a U.S. resident alien, a U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico.
Support: You have to provide more than half of their total support for that year.
Income: Their gross income (total income before any taxes or deductions) for the year must be less than $4,400.
Tax status: They can’t already be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer’s return.

Any disabled children or adults you’re financially supporting must meet the same qualifications we listed above. But if your child is permanently and totally disabled, you can claim them as dependents no matter their age.

What Are the Advantages of Filing Head of Household?

There are two main advantages that filing head of household has over filing single or married filing separately:

More of your taxable income falls under lower tax brackets
Your standard deduction increases

If you qualify for head of household filing status, lower tax brackets and a higher standard deduction can make a huge impact on how much you owe in taxes. So let’s break it down and look at some examples.

What Are the Tax Brackets for Head of Household?

One of the most important advantages to filing as head of household is the more generous tax brackets compared to filing single or married filing separately. Here are the 2023 numbers for each of those groups:

2023 Federal Income Tax Brackets and Rates for Taxable Income

Tax Rate	Single Filer	Married, Filing Jointly	Married, Filing Separately	Head of Household
10%	$0–11,000	$0–22,000	$0–11,000	$0–15,700
12%	$11,001–44,725	$22,001–89,450	$11,001–44,725	$15,701–59,850
22%	$44,726–95,375	$89,451–190,750	$44,276–95,375	$59,851–95,350
24%	$95,376–182,100	$190,751–364,200	$95,376–182,100	$95,351–182,100
32%	$182,101–231,250	$364,201–462,500	$182,101–231,250	$182,101–231,250
35%	$231,251–578,125	$462,501–693,750	$231,251–346,875	$231,251–578,100
37%	Over $578,125	Over $693,750	Over $346,875	Over $578,100⁴

As you can see, the tax bracket advantage for filing head of household is that more of your taxable income falls under the lower tax brackets at 10% and 12% This helps lower the amount of taxes you owe to Uncle Sam.

For example, let’s say you’re a single parent making $55,000. If you file as single, you’ll reach the 22% tax bracket. Here’s how it would break down:

Your first $11,000 is taxed at 10% (that $11,000 x 10%, which is $1,100)
Your next $11,000–44,725 is taxed at 12% (that’s $33,725 x 12%, which is $4,047)
Your last $44,725–55,000 is taxed at 22% (that’s $10,275 x 22%, which is $2,260.50)

So if you file as single, you would owe a whopping $7,407.50 to Uncle Sam.

But if you file as head of household (assuming you meet all the qualifications), you’ll only reach the 12% bracket. That means:

Your first $15,700 is taxed at 10% (that’s $15,700 x 10%, which is $1,570)
Your last $15,700–55,000 is taxed at 12% (that’s $39,300 x 12%, which is $4,716)

So if you’re qualified to file as head of household instead of single, you’d only owe Uncle Sam $6,286. Sweet!

The only filing status that can beat head of household with more taxable income falling under lower tax brackets is married filing jointly. So if you qualify, always choose married filing jointly over head of household.

What Is the Standard Deduction When Filing as Head of Household?

Another perk to filing as head of household is a larger standard deduction than single filers or those who file as married filing separately. And there’s more good news—the IRS increased the standard deduction for the 2022 and 2023 tax years because of inflation.

So here’s where we stand: For 2023, the standard deduction is $13,850 for single filers and for those who are married filing separately. But it’s $20,800 for those filing as head of household.⁵ Cha-ching!

Get Started on Your Taxes Today

Folks, we know worrying about taxes can be a pain. But keep in mind that your filing status can have a huge impact on how much you owe Uncle Sam or how big a refund you can expect.

So if you still have questions about whether to file as single or head of household, reach out to a RamseyTrusted tax pro and let them take a look at your tax situation. They can help you choose the right filing status and guide you in filing your federal and state returns (if you’re one of the unlucky millions who have to pay state income taxes).

Feel confident about your filing status and have a simple tax return? Check out Ramsey SmartTax. It’s affordable tax software that will walk you through the filing process so you can feel confident about your taxes. No hidden fees or distracting advertisements, which is how it should be.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can two people file as head of household?: Two people can claim head of household while living in the same home, but both will have to meet the qualifications for head of household that we discuss above. Here’s a recap:

You both must be unmarried.

You both must be able to claim a dependent who is related to you.

You both must have paid for more than half the cost of keeping up the portion of the home and living costs for you and your dependent.

Each of your dependents must have lived at your residence for more than half the year (unless your dependent is an elderly parent and you’re covering more than half the cost of their care outside the home).⁶

If you’re married, neither you nor your spouse qualify to file as head of household. You’ll have to file as married filing jointly or married filing separately instead.
Can I claim my boyfriend/girlfriend as a dependent?: Okay guys, this one’s sticky, so let’s break it down. We’ll start by saying we never recommend mixing your personal finances with someone you’re not married to—and that includes how you file your income taxes. It always causes unnecessary complications you can easily avoid by keeping all your money separate until you’re married.

Now, with all that said, yes, you can claim a boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent on your federal taxes if they meet Uncle Sam’s criteria for a “qualifying relative.” And that’s because you don’t have to be a relative to be . . . wait for it . . . a qualifying relative.

No, we’re not kidding. Clear as mud, right? Stick with us.

Here’s the catch: You can’t use a boyfriend or girlfriend as the qualifying relative required for filing as head of household. And that’s because the person you’re helping support must be a qualifying child or qualifying relative and they must be related to you.⁷

So the not-so-short answer is you can claim your boyfriend or girlfriend as a dependent, and that may help you with tax credits and deductions, but it won’t help you save money by filing head of household.
Can I claim head of household without dependents?: Normally, you have to claim a child or dependent to qualify for head of household status.

The only exception might happen when you’re a single parent without custody of your child, but you still meet all the qualifications to claim them as a dependent. In other words, you may be able to claim head of household if you’re unmarried, paid for more than half of the costs to house your child (even though you don’t have custody of them), and your child qualifies as a dependent.

But keep in mind that in order for your child to qualify as a dependent, they have to live with you for more than half the year. And if your child does qualify as a dependent, you definitely want to take advantage of tax credits aimed at helping people with dependents save some dough, like the child tax credit and the child and dependent care credit.

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Ramsey

Ramsey Solutions has been committed to helping people regain control of their money, build wealth, grow their leadership skills, and enhance their lives through personal development since 1992. Millions of people have used our financial advice through 22 books (including 12 national bestsellers) published by Ramsey Press, as well as two syndicated radio shows and 10 podcasts, which have over 17 million weekly listeners. Learn More.