Who qualifies for head of household filing status in 2025?

Head of household (HOH) filing status offers a larger standard deduction and wider tax brackets than filing single. For 2024, the HOH standard deduction is $21,900 compared to $14,600 for single filers.

To qualify, you must meet ALL three requirements:

• Unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year. You are "considered unmarried" if you lived apart from your spouse for the last 6 months of the year, you file a separate return, and you paid more than half the cost of maintaining your home.
• Paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. This includes rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home.
• Had a qualifying person live with you for more than half the year. Qualifying persons include your child (under 19, or under 24 if a full-time student), a dependent parent (who does not need to live with you but for whom you pay more than half of their housing costs), or another qualifying relative.

Common mistakes: You cannot claim HOH if you are married and living with your spouse. Having a roommate who is not a dependent does not qualify you. If your child splits time between two households, only the parent with whom the child lived more than half the year can claim HOH.

Divorced or separated parents: Only the custodial parent (the one the child lived with for more nights during the year) can claim HOH. Even if the noncustodial parent claims the child as a dependent through Form 8332, the custodial parent keeps the HOH filing status.