Filing as Single Instead of Head of Household
Single parents can hurt themselves at tax time if they file as a single taxpayer rather than head of household, said Lloyd M. Grissinger, the Memphis, Tenn.-based lead managing director of CBIZ MHM, an accounting and tax service. To qualify as head of household, you must be not married, must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for a year and have a dependent live with you (unless the dependent is a parent) for more than half the year
Tax benefits to filing as head of household include claiming a standard deduction of $9,300 on your federal tax return. Single taxpayers only get a standard deduction of $6,300.