Am I Head of Household for Tax Purposes?

Question

I am just got a new job and am filling out my W-4 forms and had a question. I am legally separated from my wife (soon to be divorced) and I have residental custody of her. My daughter will be living with me full-time. Am I a 'Head of Household' for tax purposes. The definition on my forms use the term 'unmarried.' I am assume that would be appropriate in this case.

Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, you are.

Head of Household
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.

You are unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.

You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

A “qualifying person” lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the “qualifying person” is your dependent parent, he or she does not have to live with you. See Special rule for parent, later, under Qualifying Person.




If you qualify to file as head of household, your tax rate usually will be lower than the rates for single or married filing separately. You will also receive a higher standard deduction than if you file as single or married filing separately.

How to file. If you file as head of household, you can use either Form 1040A or Form 1040. Indicate your choice of this filing status by checking the box on line 4 of either form. Use the Head of a household column of the Tax Table or Section D of the Tax Computation Worksheet to figure your tax.

Considered Unmarried
To qualify for head of household status, you must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.

You file a separate return (defined, earlier, under Joint Return After Separate Returns).

You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.

Your spouse did not live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year. Your spouse is considered to live in your home even if he or she is temporarily absent due to special circumstances. See Temporary absences, later.

Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or eligible foster child for more than half the year. (See Home of qualifying person, later, for rules applying to a child's birth, death, or temporary absence during the year.)

You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, you meet this test if you cannot claim the exemption only because the noncustodial parent can claim the child using the rules described later in Children of divorced or separated parents under Qualifying Child or in Support Test for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents under Qualifying Relative. The general rules for claiming an exemption for a dependent are explained later under Exemptions for Dependents.

I've attached a link.

Answer 2

You may file as Head of Houshold while still married if you meet the following tests:

1. You lived apart from your spouse for the entire last half of the year.

2. You paid more than half of the cost of maintaining a home for a closely related dependent such as a child or elderly dependent.

See IRS Pub 501 for a full discussion of the rules and requirements for the various filing statuses.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say you have "residental custody of her." To whom does that refer? Your soon-to-be ex? Your daughter? You can't have "custody" of your wife though you certainly can have custody of your child.

Answer 3

If your daughter will be living with you full-time and you will be providing over half of the cost of maintaining the home for her, you can claim head of household if you didn't live with your soon to be ex at any time after June 30.

Your daughter would either have to be your dependent, or meet rules that you could claim her except for an agreement for her mother to claim her.

Answer 4

if your daughter will be your dependent on your tax returns, as well as actualy live with you, you are "Head of Household".

'unmarried' in this context means 'not currently married and no dependents living at home'.

:-)

Answer 5

yes, you are