Head of Household IRS Rules Simplified !

Head of household IRS rules restrict the status of head of household to only certain unmarried persons who satisfy certain conditions. This is so because the filing status of “Head of Household” has a much higher tax relief than a single filing status taxpayer. Further, the standard deduction for the head of the household is higher than the individual status. Because of such tax benefits, the IRS has set a number of stiff conditions that must be fulfilled in order to be eligible to file a tax return under the status ” head of household”.

Head of household IRS eligibility conditions?

If you fulfilled the following conditions in a tax year, you can claim the status of “Head of Household” :

1. You must have evidence of paying more than half of the qualifying expenses (refer to the explanation below) involved in maintaining a household.
2. You must be either a single or divorced or legally separated person or should be “considered unmarried” as of the last day of the tax year.
3. You must file your own individual tax return.
4. You must have a dependent qualifying child or relative, and he/she must have lived in your home for more than half the year.
5. You must have proof of paying for at least 50% of the maintenance costs for the dependent.

What are qualifying expenses & what not?

The qualifying expenses that the person must share at least 50% for claiming the status of “head of household” include following types of household bills

• utility bills,
• insurance,
• groceries, 
• rent/mortgage,
• property taxes, and
• house repairs.

What is not included in the qualifying expense?

The qualifying expenses exclude costs such as expenses on clothing, healthcare, vacations, life insurance, transportation, and education.

What if you receive assistance?

If you get any assistance in paying the household bills from a relative, non-relative, or government programs such as the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, you will still qualify if you paid at least 50% of the qualified expense using your own savings or earnings.

What does “Considered unmarried” mean?

Apart from the taxpayers who are single, divorced, or legally separated, a married couple that lives in separate residences from July 1 to December 31^st may still be considered unmarried, but there are some conditions to fulfill before he can be considered unmarried for the purpose of claims of “Head of Housed” status, like

• The spouses must file separate taxes and still meet the other two requirements for filing as head of household.
• If the reason for living in separate residences is a temporary circumstance such as medical treatments, college attendance, or military service, the spouses are considered married during the tax year and cannot claim the head of household filing status.

What is the qualifying child or relative rule?

A qualified child can be a child, stepchild, foster child, adopted child, or descendant of any of those who are dependents. Under the qualifying relative rule, you can claim your father, mother, brother, sister, niece, nephew, or either of the grandparents. But the following additional conditions must be satisfied by them:

• Lived in the taxpayer’s home for more than half the year and
• You provided at least 50% of the maintenance costs for a qualified child or dependent.

The list of qualifying persons is contained in Table 4 of Publication 501 of the IRS.

What if my parents live in the rest room for which I pay bills?

If the parents live in a rest home for the elderly and the taxpayer pays more than half of the cost of keeping the parents in the home, the taxpayer qualifies to file as the head of the household. Further, you claim the status of “head of household ” even if the parent does not live with you, but you pay more than 50% of the cost of the main home for the whole year for the parents.

Head of Household IRS Tax Brackets 2022 & 2023

Tax law recognizes that single parents or divorced or legally separated parents (by the last day of the year)  are having more responsibilities and expenditures to maintain a home than just of a single unmarried person. Therefore, under the filing status “head of household “, a better tax rate is provided in comparison to single filing status. But this tax relief is maintained up to a tax rate of 12 % only, the above rates and range of income are almost the same. The tax rates for years 2022 & 2023 will make this distinction clear :

Single vs Head of Household IRS tax rates 2023

Tax Rate	For Single Filers	For Heads of Households
10%	$0 to $11,000	$0 to $15,700
12%	$11,000 to $44,725	$15,700 to $59,850
22%	$44,725 to $95,375	$59,850 to $95,350
24%	$95,375 to $182,100	$95,350 to $182,100
32%	$182,100 to $231,250	$182,100 to $231,250
35%	$231,250 to $578,125	$231,250 to $578,100
37%	$578,125 or more	$578,100 or more

Single vs Head of Household IRS tax rates 2022

Rate	For Unmarried Individuals	For Heads of Households
10%	$0 to $10,275	$0 to $14,650
12%	$10,275 to $41,775	$14,650 to $55,900
22%	$41,775 to $89,075	$55,900 to $89,050
24%	$89,075 to $170,050	$89,050 to $170,050
32%	$170,050 to $215,950	$170,050 to $215,950
35%	$215,950 to $539,900	$215,950 to $539,900
37%	$539,900 or more	$539,900 or more

Head of the household IRS standard deduction 2022 & 2023

The second benefit is that you’ll be able to claim a higher standard deduction. For the 2023 tax year, the standard deduction is $20,800 for the head of Household, whereas for Single filing status, it is just $13,850. So, the law provided more savings for Head of Household status.

Compare Tax Diff with Head of household vs single calculator

Using the HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD VS SINGLE calculator, you can easily understand the tax impact of both this filing statuses.

Therefore if you satisfy the head of household IRS rule, it goes a long way to save taxes and therefore money!