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No, a registered domestic partner cannot qualify to file his or her tax return using head-of-household filing status. According to IRS guidelines, to qualify as head of household, a taxpayer must provide more than half the cost of maintaining his or her household during the taxable year, and that household must be the principal place of abode of the taxpayer’s dependent for more than half of the taxable year (section 2(b)). However, if registered domestic partners pay all of the costs of maintaining the household from community funds, each partner is considered to have incurred half the cost, and neither can qualify as head of household. Even if one of the partners pays more than half by contributing separate funds, that partner cannot file as head of household if the only dependent is his or her registered domestic partner. A registered domestic partner is not one of the specified related individuals in section 152(c) or (d) that qualifies the taxpayer to file as head of household, even if the partner is the taxpayer’s dependent.
Sources:
Publication 17 (2023)
Publication 501 (2023)
Rev. Rul. 2013-17
