The qualifying person does not meet the gross income test.



The number one reason head of household filing status is denied is because the qualifying person didnot meet the gross income test to be the taxpayer's qualifying relative. A qualifying relative's gross



income must be less than the federal exemption credit amount for that year.



2005 – $3200; 2006 – $3300; 2007 – $3400. (In general, social security benefits and welfare payments such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF, formerly AFDC) are not included in gross income.)



The taxpayer lived with his or her spouse or RDP during the last six months of the year.



To qualify for head of household filing status, a taxpayer who is married or an RDP as of the last day of the year must meet the requirements to be considered unmarried or considered not in a registered domestic partnership. Many taxpayers who are married or an RDP as of 12/31 do not meet these requirements because they lived with their spouse or RDP during all or part of the last 6 months of the year.



Note: A petition for divorce, legal separation, or dissolution of registered domestic partnership is not the same as having a final decree. Until the taxpayer receives a final decree, or files a Termination of Domestic Partnership that was effective by the last day of the year, the taxpayer remains married or an RDP.



A taxpayer who is married or an RDP who does not meet the requirements to be considered unmarried or considered not in a registered domestic partnership does not qualify for head of household filing status.



The qualifying person did not live with the taxpayer for more than half the year.



The taxpayer's qualifying person must live with the taxpayer for more than half the year. If the qualifying person did not live with the taxpayer for more than half the year, the taxpayer does not qualify for the head of household filing status. More than half the year is 183 days; in a leap year it is 184 days.



A taxpayer who is married or an RDP claimed a parent or relative other than a child as his or her qualifying person.



If the taxpayer is legally married or an RDP as of the last day of the year and claims a parent or a relative other than a child as their qualifying person, he or she cannot qualify for head of household filing status. By law, taxpayers who are legally married or an RDP as of the last day of the year can only claim their child as their qualifying person. The child can be a birth child, stepchild, adopted child, or an eligible foster child.



Taxpayer claimed a nonrelative as a qualifying person.

Many denials are issued because the taxpayer is claiming a nonrelative as their qualifying person.



Sometimes this is a cousin or the child of a friend or fiancée who is living in the home. By law, only certain relatives can qualify a taxpayer for head of household filing status. The list does not include cousins or unrelated children – except for children who meet the requirements to be an eligible foster child.