Head Of Household

Definition

Head of Household is a filing status for individual United States taxpayers.


Head Of Household

What is ‘Head Of Household’

A status held by the person in a household who is running the household and looking after a qualified dependent. In order to qualify as head of household, the designated household must be located at the person’s home and the person must pay more than 50% of the costs involved in running the household. The benefit of having the head-of-household status is that it can result in lower tax rates in certain jurisdictions.

Explaining ‘Head Of Household’

Typically, the head of a household must also be unmarried. However, in certain situations, a married person can be the head of household. In addition to the requirements listed above, the married person must also file an individual tax return and the spouse of the married person must not have lived with the person for the last six months of the calender year.

Further Reading