Understanding Taxability of Social Security Benefits for Single Head of Household

Qualifying as a Single Head of Household

If you are a single head of household, you may be eligible for certain tax benefits. To qualify, you must meet the following criteria:

You must be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year.
You must have paid more than half the costs of keeping up a home for the tax year.
During the last six months of the tax year, your spouse did not live in the home. However, temporary absences due to special circumstances do not count.
Your home was the main home for your child, stepchild, foster child, or other qualifying person for more than half the year.

Part of your social security benefits may be taxable if any of the following applies to you:

You were single, head of household, or a qualifying widow(er).
You were married filing separately and lived apart from your spouse at any time during the tax year. However, do not include social security benefits unless you meet the conditions described in item 3 below.
You are married filing jointly and your combined income exceeds the base amount for your filing status.

The base amounts for 2023 are as follows:

To calculate the taxable amount of your social security benefits, follow these steps:

Subtract the base amount for your filing status.
Multiply the result by 50% for single, head of household, or qualifying widow(er) or 85% for married filing separately.

The resulting amount is the taxable portion of your social security benefits.