Head of Household vs. Single Filing Status HOHucator Tool Start Over Citizen / Resident Is this individual e.g. child a U.S. citizen, a U.S. resident alien, a U.S. national, or a resident of Canada or Mexico? Yes No Marital or Filing Status What was your marital status on the last day of the tax year? Single Married Unmarried Legally separated Surviving Spouse During The Tax Year Did your spouse die during the tax year? Yes No Previous two Tax Year Did your spouse die during the previous two tax years? Yes No Support Tax Year Did you provide more than half of your own support for the tax year? Yes No Tax Year Did you pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the tax year? Yes No IRS Qualifying Person Do you have an IRS Qualifying Person who lived with you during the tax year? Use our DEPENDucator tool if you are unsure of how to answer. Yes No Qualifying Child Is the Qualifying Person your child or stepchild, but not a foster child? Yes No Qualifying Person single Is your Qualifying Person single? Yes No Are Both of the Following True The Qualifying Person is married. They will file their own tax return. Yes No Based on your answers, your filing status can be Married Filing Jointly OR Married Filing Separately. Learn the difference between these two statuses to help you decide which one is best for you. Based on your answers, your filing status is Single. Single is the basic filing status for unmarried people who do not qualify to file as Head of Household. If you were not married on the last day of the tax year and you do not qualify to use any other filing status, then you must file your tax return as Single. Based on your answers, you qualify for the Head of Household filing status. A lot of folks think that you can file for this status if you are married and this is not the case. You have to be single, or unmarried, with a dependent child or children to qualify. Based on your answers, your filing status is Qualifying Widow(er) With Dependent Child. This filing status allows you to retain the benefits of the Married Filing Jointly status for two years after the year of your spouse's death. You must have a dependent child in order to file as a Qualifying Widow or Widower. This tool cannot determine your filing status because you were not a U.S. citizen and/or a resident alien for all of the tax year. Enter your email address and you will receive other relevant tax e-filing updates as well as applicable tax return preparation promo codes. We will not share your email with anybody. Learn more about transactional emails. Email Submit Disclaimer: taxpert.com makes no warranty as to the accuracy of the results of this estimator or calculator tool. The results are estimates and for informational purposes only, and should not be relied on for tax advice. TurboTax® is a registered trademark of Intuit, Inc. H&R Block® is a registered trademark of HRB Innovations, Inc.