head of household
A filing status for someone supporting a household alone.
A filing status for unmarried taxpayers maintaining a household for a qualifying person.
What that means in practice
It sits between single and married filing jointly. You get a bigger standard deduction than a single person. The brackets are wider too. To qualify you must be unmarried. You must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home. And a qualifying dependent must live with you for most of the year. The rules are stricter than people assume.
Head of household provides a standard deduction and bracket schedule intermediate between single and married filing jointly. ⚠️ Qualification requires the taxpayer be unmarried or considered unmarried, furnish more than half the cost of maintaining the household, and have a qualifying person residing there for more than half the year. ⛔ This site explains the mechanism and does not certify eligibility, which depends on facts only the taxpayer holds.
Questions people ask
Is this a rule, or just a way of describing something?
It describes how something works. It does not set a number. head of household is an idea you need in order to read the rules. It is not a rule with a rate of its own. That is why it turns up in federal, state and local tax alike.
Is this one of those terms that needs three other terms to explain it?
Less than most. head of household stands on its own. Start here rather than coming back to it later.
Is this the standard name for it?
This one has a single accepted name. That makes it easier to look up than much of the vocabulary around it.
Why is this one harder to pin down than the others?
Because the rule has conditions attached. It is not a single line. head of household behaves differently depending on your circumstances, and a short version cannot carry those. That is why the fuller explanation here runs longer than most. A one-sentence answer is usually wrong somewhere.
Is this a statutory term or an analytical one?
This is an analytical or procedural concept rather than a rate-bearing statutory provision. It applies across levels of government and tax types, and is used to interpret provisions that do carry rates rather than imposing liability itself.
Does this term resolve independently?
This term resolves largely independently of other defined terms, with limited cross-references. It is therefore usable as an entry point; more heavily cross-referenced provisions generally require it rather than the reverse.
Is this designation the settled one?
This designation is the settled term of art with limited alternative usage, so it maps reliably to statutory and agency references. Terms with multiple colloquial designations require more care when searching source material.
Why does this term require extended treatment?
This provision carries conditional application — its effect depends on filing status, income level, timing or jurisdiction — so a single-sentence definition necessarily omits determinative conditions. The extended treatment on this page states them explicitly rather than compressing them away.