Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Certification Practice Test

Can Jim and Sally both file as Head of Household on their individual returns?

1. True

2. False

The correct answer is: False

To file as Head of Household, a taxpayer must meet specific criteria outlined by the IRS. One of the fundamental requirements is that the individual must be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year. Additionally, the taxpayer must have paid more than half the costs of keeping up a home for themselves and a qualifying person for more than half the year. If both Jim and Sally are in a shared living situation but each want to claim Head of Household status, at least one of them is likely to not meet the criteria because only one person can claim a specific household as their primary residence as a head of household unless they are legally separated and can claim their own separate households. Thus, under typical circumstances, both individuals cannot file as Head of Household for the same dependent or the same household. In this case, since both Jim and Sally cannot satisfy the requirements to file as Head of Household simultaneously for the same household setup, the answer reflects that it is false that they can both claim this status.