Question

In 2015 I filed married filing separately and my husband filed head of household. Was i suppose to file single? If so should I amend that return?

Forum|Forum|7 years ago
June 6, 2019
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Employee

If you were married, you cannot file as single.

If your husband lived with you at any time during the last six months of the year, he should not have filed as head of household. Head of household has a special meaning on a tax return. It does not mean that you are the breadwinner or the person in charge of the household. Head of household is a filing status for a single person with a child. If you are married and live with your spouse you cannot file as head of household. The only filing statuses you can use are married filing jointly or married filing separately.

If your husband improperly filed as head of household, he has to amend his return to change the filing status to married filing separately, or you could amend either his return or yours to make it a joint return for the two of you.

Why are you and your husband not filing jointly? Married filing jointly is almost always the best filing status for a married couple, unless you live in Ohio and both have income.

O

Orobio2016

Search that I have done I found out you can file head of household if you're married and have a dependent and lived apart from your spouse for at least 6 months out of the year is that not true?

DoninGA

Employee

@Orobio2016 wrote:

Search that I have done I found out you can file head of household if you're married and have a dependent and lived apart from your spouse for at least 6 months out of the year is that not true?

Yes, that is true. See this TurboTax support FAQ for Head of Household eligibility when married - https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/married/help/can-a-married-person-claim-head-of-household-filing-status/01/26366