The standard deduction for the head of household in 2023 is $20,800. The amount of the standard deduction can be higher or lower than this depending on your age and filing status.
What is standard deduction?
Standard deduction is a type of tax deduction where your taxable income is lowered, reducing the amount you pay as tax when filing your tax returns. Taxpayers who are blind or age 65 or older usually get higher standard deductions, also known as additional standard deduction.
An example of standard deduction is a head of a household filing the 2023 tax with an adjusted gross income of $125,000 is entitled to a standard deduction of $20,000. This tax break reduces their taxable income to $105,000 ($125,000 – $20,000).
What is head of household filing?
This filing status of head of household was created to provide tax benefits to single parents. It gives a 50% higher benefit than a single person.
Eligibility for head of household
- A person who is qualified to file as a head of household must be legally single or been separated from their spouse for at least six months of the year.
- You must have at least a child who is dependent on you. This child can be biological or legally adopted or a foster child. Your siblings or dependent parents can also qualify for this requirement.
- If your sibling is to be used in place of your child, this sibling must have resided with you for at least six months.
- In the case of dependent parents, you must have been taking care of their expenses for at least six months of the year and there must be some proof for this.
- You must show proof that you’ve paid for half the cost of your house and expenses for the year. This is the case if you are staying with a roommate.
How much is my standard deduction
The standard deduction changes each year to take into account inflation. The return for the 2023 tax year is filed in the early months of 2024 and that is when the standard deduction can be applied.
For the 2023 tax year, the federal standard deduction for head of household filers is $20,800 and $22,650 if the filer is 65 years or older. For single filers, or married filers filing separately, the standard deduction is $13,850, and $15,700 if the filer is 65 years or older.
Details of this are shown in the table below.
Standard deductions by age for different filing statuses for the 2023 tax year (filed in 2024)
| Filing Status | Age at the end of the year | Your Standard Deduction |
| Single or married filing separately | -Under 65-65 or older | -$13,850-$15,700 |
| Married filing jointly | -Under 65 (both spouses)-65 or older (one spouse)-65 or older (both spouses) | -$27,700-$29,200-$30,700 |
| Head of Household | -Under 65 -65 or older | -$20,800-22,650 |
| Qualifying widow(er) | -Under 65-65 or older | -$27,700-$29,200 |
