Have baby now with uk spouse do I file head of household?

Hello I have been filing married but separate for the past 8 years. I had a daughter in November 2010. Do I now file head of household? Or just continue with married but separate on the 1040. Thanks

If you meet all the other conditions for HoH you file HoH.  If not you still can claim an extra exemption.

Don't forget that if your daughter has any money this may need to be reported on Forms TD F 90-22.1 and 8938 if applicable.

You 1040 for 2010 may need to be amended if you didn't claim the exemption for your daughter.

Hello I have been filing married but separate for the past 8 years. I had a daughter in November 2010. Do I now file head of household? Or just continue with married but separate on the 1040. Thanks

Hello Blondshania,
You indicated that you have a UK spouse which implies that you are married. If that is the case you cannot file head of household. Your alternatives are to continue filing separately or your husband can join the return my election. I assume your daughter has a US SSN. If not, you need to apply for one immediately to include her on the return. I hope this helps.

Hello Blondshania,
You indicated that you have a UK spouse which implies that you are married. If that is the case you cannot file head of household. Your alternatives are to continue filing separately or your husband can join the return my election. I assume your daughter has a US SSN. If not, you need to apply for one immediately to include her on the return. I hope this helps.

This isn't accurate.  If her spouse is a NRA and she does not claim him on her US return, she can claim head of household (assuming all other conditions are met).  Publication 501 states this and I have copied below for convenience:

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p501/ar02.html#en_US_2011_publink1000220775

Head of Household
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.

You are unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.

You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.

A “qualifying person” lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the “qualifying person” is your dependent parent, he or she does not have to live with you. See Special rule for parent , later, under Qualifying Person.

If you qualify to file as head of household, your tax rate usually will be lower than the rates for single or married filing separately. You will also receive a higher standard deduction than if you file as single or married filing separately.

Nonresident alien spouse.   You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do not choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien. However, your spouse is not a qualifying person for head of household purposes. You must have another qualifying person and meet the other tests to be eligible to file as a head of household.

That's a "good catch". I guess we both don't know whether she paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. Having a newborn makes that highly unlikely but not impossible.

That's a "good catch". I guess we both don't know whether she paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. Having a newborn makes that highly unlikely but not impossible.

It isn't for you or me to assume. People should know their options and it's for them to apply to their circumstances.

That's a "good catch". I guess we both don't know whether she paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. Having a newborn makes that highly unlikely but not impossible.

Why does having a newborn make it 'highly unlikely'? I paid almost 100% of my household expenditures the year I had a newborn.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Mothers with younger children are less likely to be in the labor force than mothers with older children. In 2010, the labor force participation rate of mothers with children under 6 years old (63.9 percent) was lower than the rate of those whose youngest child was 6 to 17 years old (76.5 percent). The participation rate of mothers with infants under a year old was 56.5 percent. Among mothers with infants, there was little difference in the participation rate of married mothers (56.3 percent) and those with other marital statuses (57.0 percent). However, the unemployment rate for married mothers of infants, at 7.1 percent, was significantly lower than the rate for mothers with other marital statuses (22.5 percent).

as one who deals with demographic data as well as data from the BLS and other agencies, it seems to me that these stats do NOT prove that a woman with a new baby is 'highly unlikely' to be working.

But in any case, that is NOT what the OP wants to know.

To the OP: read the IRS 'rules' for filing HOH, and if you are still not sure call the IRS at the US Embassy in London ... or hire a qualified accountant.

Best of luck.

I see one other alligator for the OP (besides providing > 1/2 the support for the dependent) to claim HofH filing status. That is the requirement that the dependent  be a US Citizen. If the newborn is not a US Citizen the newborn would not qualify as a dependent and the OP would not satisfy HofH requirements. More on children born abroad here: http://tinyurl.com/3ephymw

I think it more likely than not that baby is a US citizen. Obviously we don't know all of the facts here though. Filing HoH is often a better anwer.

Agree, we don't know the facts. I'd hope that OP would clarify both the support and citizen issue to close this thread.

Hi I filed married separately...claiming my baby as a dependent..she is a UScitizen, i have registered her at the US embassy at London when she was 3 months old..she received her certificate of birth abroad too!!!


.  She has a US  Social security number so i put this on my tax form.  I did not file head of household as i only work parttime...I put Hubby down as NRA...thanks so much for your replies...happy tax filing!!!

Hi I filed married separately...claiming my baby as a dependent..she is a UScitizen, i have registered her at the US embassy at London when she was 3 months old..she received her certificate of birth abroad too!!!


.  She has a US  Social security number so i put this on my tax form.  I did not file head of household as i only work parttime...I put Hubby down as NRA...thanks so much for your replies...happy tax filing!!!

FYI if you are married filing separately you can claim an exemption for your spouse if they had no US income and are not filing a return and cannot be claimed as a dependent on another tax return. Instructions for line 6b here

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf