Can I Claim Head of Household & My Spouse Take a Standard Deduction?

To qualify for head of household status, the Internal Revenue Service requires you to pay more than half of the cost of maintaining your house during the year. You cannot rely on another person to cover the majority of your mortgage or rent payments, for example. The cost of a home also includes the cost of food consumed at the house, utilities and property taxes, according to the IRS. A dependent person needs to live in the house with you for more than half of the year. The dependent needs to be a blood relative, or be an adopted or foster child. If the dependent is your parent, you can claim head of household, even if your parent doesn't live with you.

To file as the head of household you usually must never have been married or be divorced, but married people are eligible if the IRS considers you unmarried. This applies if your spouse hasn't lived in the same house with you during the last six months of the year. For you to claim head of household, you must file separate returns.

When married couples file separate returns, both spouses typically must claim the standard deduction or both must itemize. If the couple is considered unmarried in the eyes of the IRS and one person claims head of household, the rule does not apply. You can claim head of household and itemize your deductions while your spouse takes the standard deduction. The reverse is also true; you can claim the standard deduction filing as head of household and your spouse can itemize deductions.

If you marry a nonresident alien -- someone who does not live in the United States and is not a citizen -- you can choose to file as head of household, even though you are married and live together. You must still meet the other requirements for head of household status, including caring for a dependent person and paying the majority of the cost of maintaining your home. If your nonresident spouse has any income from the United States and needs to file taxes, the appropriate IRS form to file is the 1040NR, which typically requires itemizing deductions, not claiming a standard deduction.