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If you file taxes annually, most likely you are aware that you fall under one of the five filing status that are allowed on your tax return. In most cases, what your status was on December 31st of the year you are filing is what determines your status. Your filing status is important as it determines a number of things that affect the outcome of your taxes. These include:

• If you are required to file a return

• Whether or not you are entitled to a refund

• Your standard deduction

• What credits you can claim

• The amount of tax you pay

Everyone falls under one of the five filing status 

1. Single – Taxpayers who are unmarried, divorced or legally separated 

2. Married filing jointly – Married taxpayers who file a return with their spouse

3. Married filing separately – Married couples who chose to file separate tax returns

4. Head of household – Unmarried taxpayers who paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for themselves and a qualifying dependent for at least half the year

5. Qualifying widow or widower with dependent child – A taxpayer whose spouse died during one of the previous two years and have a dependent child

More information on Head of household

Q. Can you still file head of household if your ex-spouse claim your dependent child that year?

1. For those filing Head of household who are divorced and share custody of a child, you can still file head of household in the year that your ex-spouse claim your child as a dependent. You will only need to meet two criterias, (1) you weren’t married on the last day of the year and (2) You paid more than half of the cost of keeping up your main home that you share with your child for more than half of the year.

Q. What if you’re not legally divorced, can you still file under head of household ?

1. Many people who are separated but not legally divorced want to be able to claim credit for childcare expenses and qualify for the EIC (Earned Income Credit) under the head of household filing status. Unfortunately according to the IRS, If you are not legally separated from your spouse or considered unmarried at the end of the tax year, you cannot file under the head of household status. In this scenario you will need to file married filing separately or married filing jointly.

Q. What if we live together, unmarried but share a child and expenses. Can we both claim head of household?

1. In this scenario only one person can qualify as head of household and claim the dependent child. Even though they both may have contributed equally to the household expenses, the IRS will only recognize one parent with the filing status. 

For those who file married filing separately, unfortunately, you cannot claim the Earned Income Credit (EIC). You must file either single, head of household, qualifying widow or widower, or married filing jointly to receive this credit.

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