To qualify for head of household filing status, you do not necessarily have to claim your child as a dependent. The key requirements for head of household status include:
- Unmarried or Considered Unmarried: You must be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. This includes filing a separate return and meeting other specific conditions such as your spouse not living in your home during the last six months of the year.
- Maintaining a Household: You must have paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
- Qualifying Person: A qualifying person, such as your child, must have lived with you for more than half the year. There are exceptions for temporary absences, children who were born or died during the year, adopted or foster children, kidnapped children, and children of divorced or separated parents.
- Claiming the Child as a Dependent: Generally, you must be able to claim the child as a dependent. However, there is an exception for custodial parents. If you are the custodial parent and you meet all other requirements for head of household status, you can still qualify even if you have released the claim to the exemption for the child to the noncustodial parent. This means that the child does not need to be claimed as a dependent on your tax return for you to qualify for head of household status.
Therefore, while claiming the child as a dependent is a general requirement, the exception for custodial parents allows you to qualify for head of household status without claiming the child as a dependent, provided all other conditions are met.
Sources:
§ 2. Definitions and special rules
§ 152. Dependent defined
Publication 1380
Publication 17 (2023)
Publication 501 (2023)
