I have a tax question, single parents please answer!?

Question

When you filed your taxes and claimed that you were a single parent and head of household, how much did that give you on your taxes? Does it give a good extra bc your a single parent and a head of household?

Answer 1

first off, filing as single and head of household is two different filing status' and the list of the most tax breaks of filing status are as follows from most to least:
Married Filing Jointly
Widow(er) w/ qualifying dependent
Head Of Household
Single
Married Filing Separatly

So to answer your Q, Head of Household is a better tax break than filing single. Just make sure that you are divoriced (if ever married) and that you can claim you child(ren) and that you meet the requirements to be Head of Household

Answer 2

What a bunch of wrong answers!

You can get the child tax credit and a dependent care credit if you are eligible for them, if you file as single. It's not just for married or head of household. The child tax credit is $1000 per child under 17, if you owe that much tax in the first place. If you don't, check to see if you are eligible for the additional child tax credit - you get that even if your tax is zero.

Head of household gives you an extra $2500 on your standard deduction than filing as single. If you owe any tax, and take the standard deduction, this will knock your tax down by maybe a few hundred dollars. If you don't owe any tax in the first place, it won't make a difference.

If you are a parent and your income is under $37,783 with two or more children, or $33,241 with one child, you would probably be eligible for an Earned Income Credit. The amount from this depends on your income for the year and on whether you have just one qualifying child or have at least two - could be just a few dollars, or over $4700. The amount you get from this is the same whether you are filing as single or as head of household.

And unless somebody makes a mistake, you'd owe the same tax and get the same back whether you did your taxes online at the IRS site, did them on paper yourself, or had them done by a CPA, H&R Block or Jackson Hewitt.

Answer 3

The big tax benefit for you comes from having a dependent child in your household. The qualifying child gives you the following tax benefits:

Dependency exemption for the child
Earned Income Credit
Child Tax Credit
Additional Child Tax Credit
Dependent Care Credit

The amount of the above benefits depends on your income level, and can go up to well over $3,000 for one child.

As for the Head of Household filing status, you can do that if you live with a dependent child, and you pay for over half of the costs of maintaining your home. The actual benefit of this filing status is not large compared to the Single filing status. It increases your standard deduction by $2,500. If you owe no income taxes, this results in no additional refund. If you owe taxes, it may reduce the taxes you owe by $300 or so depending on your income.

Answer 4

It depends on how much you make, if you make approx under 34K a year then the head of household will help you you should get a child care credit too like if your kid goes to day care or has a sitter, you get 2000 max in my state anyways when i was a single parent i made 33K that year and i got 4,626 back. but the more i got back i realized that's how little i made! try going to Jackson Hewitt or hr block(i dont care for hr block) but go to the websites and will give you more information. Just dont file your taxes directly on the IRS website then you get less back too. and my tax lady told me that when you file electronically then its less likely you get audited! good luck!

Answer 5

You have to be Head of Household or Married Filing Joint to get child credit or $1,000 per child along with other tax benefits that are not available if you are just single or married filing separate.

Answer 6

the amount all depends on your income and itemization. you can look online for calculators to give you estimates.

Answer 7

1500 per child under 8 years old I think.