900 N. Kings Highway, Cherry Hill, New Jersey 08034
856.667.4100 · 215.563.0276 · Fax: 856.667.3652

Tax Tip of the Week
For the week of
January 5, 2004

Do you qualify as head of household?

If you're single, it might be worth checking whether you qualify to file your tax return as head of household. The advantages: You'll enjoy lower tax brackets and a bigger standard deduction than single filers.

The usual example of a head of household is someone who is single on the last day of the tax year, has a dependent child living at home, and pays at least half the cost of maintaining the home. But there are some surprising other ways to qualify. Here are a few examples:

You're single and have a parent who qualifies as a dependent but doesn't live with you. You may be able to file as head of household if you provide at least half the cost of maintaining your parent's home for the year.

You're single and have a dependent parent who lives in a nursing home. If you pay at least half of your parent's nursing home costs for the year, you could qualify as head of household.

You're single and have an unmarried child living at home, but can't claim him or her as a dependent. You might still be able to file as head of household as long as you pay at least half the cost of maintaining your household.

]

The rules and exceptions can get complicated, so check with our office if you think you might be eligible. You'll save yourself some tax dollars if you can find a way to qualify.

Click here to view previous tax tips.


"Tax Tips" are published weekly to provide useful tax information. Return to this site every week for helpful tax-cutting suggestions, tax reminders, and current tax information.

The information contained in this site is of a general nature and should not be acted upon in your specific situation without further details and/or professional assistance.

If you would like more information on anything in "Tax Tips," or if you'd like to be on our mailing list to receive other tax-cutting information from time to time, please contact our office. We're here to help.

Home

 
 

untitled

This site designed and maintained by the Information Technology experts at Alloy, Silverstein, Shapiro, Adams, Mulford, Cicalese, Wilson & Co.

We appreciate comments concerning our website. Contact our webmaster .