Residing in the Same Household

In order to file your tax return as a head of household (HOH), you must live in the same household as your qualifying person unless the person is your father or mother. In that case, you can be an HOH if you pay for at least half the cost of maintaining your father or mother's main home for the entire year, even if your parent(s) lives apart from you in a house or apartment, or in a nursing home or other care facility for the elderly.

If the "qualifying person" is anyone other than your mother or father, the person must live in your household for more than half of your tax year. However, temporary absences for vacations, illnesses, military service, or time spent in college are permissible for either you or the qualifying person, provided that you reasonably anticipate that the absentee will return and you continue to maintain a household during the absence.

Also, if the qualifying person is born or dies during the tax year so that he or she is alive for less than six months in the year, you can still file as an HOH if the qualifying person lived with you for the whole period in which he or she was alive during the year.