There are times when it is possible to file your taxes claiming the head of household status.  There are several benefits to this, however it is up to you to determine if the benefits are great enough to continue seeing if you are eligible to file as head of household. 

The advantages of filing as head of household is you are able to claim a standard deduction regardless of how your spouse files.  You are able to still file as head of household and claim the standard deduction even if your spouse does itemized deductions on their tax return.

Another advantage is that you are able to enjoy a much higher standard deduction than you would be given if you were filing single or married.  This allows your deduction to be able to help you the most possible with the least amount of additional deductions necessary.

Additionally, your tax rate is lower if you file as head of household rather than filing single or even married filing separately.  This allows the tax bill to be much lower than otherwise possible.

You can also claim the earned income credit and even the dependent care credit, which is not possible, if you are filing married but separately. 

Your last major benefit to filing as head of household is you are able to raise your income limits that are associated with the child tax credit, itemized deductions, and retirement savings contributions credit.  If you file as married filing separately, you are not able to claim as high of an income before the deductions are minimized.

To be able to claim head of household status you must meet the following requirements completely or you are unable to claim head of household.

• First, you must be unmarried, or else be considered as unmarried on the last day of the tax year according to the IRS rules.
• Second, you must have paid at least half or the cost of keeping up the home during the previous year.
• Third, you had a person who counted as a “qualifying person” living in your home for at least half of the year minimum.  The only exception to the qualifying person living in your home is if your dependent parent is who qualify with. 

In order to qualify as unmarried for the purposes of the head of household status you must meet the following guidelines.

• First, filed a separate return, you cannot file a joint return to claim head of household.
• Second, you must have paid at least half of the cost of keeping the home up for the previous tax year.
• Third, you cannot live with your spouse for the final 6 months of the year.  If your spouse is only gone from the home temporarily then it does not count as being unmarried.  They must have moved out of the home, or abandoned the family home for at least 6 months for this to apply.
• Fourth, the home where you live must have been the primary residence for your eligible foster child, stepchild, or your own child.
• Fifth, you must be allowed to claim the exemption for the child you are uses to qualify you.  The exception to this rule is if in accordance with the Tie-Breaker rules your spouse qualifies to claim the child.  If this occurs, you are still considered to have met this test.

As you can see, there are many guidelines and rules that must be followed in order to file taxes as head of household.  However, the advantages of filing this way make it a very popular option for most people to explore happily.