Free US Law Dictionary

Head of Household

Head of Household is a Filing Status (federal income tax) for individual American taxpayers.

Generally, to qualify for head of household status you must be unmarried, not entitled to file as a qualifying widow or widower, and have a dependent child. You must also have provided more than half the cost of maintaining, as your home, a household that was the main home for a qualifying dependent. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return and your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year and you provided more than half of the cost of maintaining, as your home, a household that was the main home, for more than one half of your tax year, of a child who is a qualifying dependent. A tax payer should also bear in mind that the definition of "head of household" contains a lot of exceptions and other rules.[1]