﻿Department of the Treasury -Internal Revenue Service 

Form 886-H-HOH
(October 2020)
Supporting Documents to Prove Head of Household Filing Status

You may qualify for Head of Household filing status if you meet the following three tests:

Marriage Test, Qualifying Person Test, and Cost of Keeping up a Home Test. 

Name of Taxpayer ----
Taxpayer Identification Number ----
Tax Period Ending ----

Marriage Test 

If You Are: Single
Then send photocopies of the following documents for tax year 2020
Go to the Qualifying Person Test and Cost of Keeping up a Home Test.
If You Are: Divorced or legally separated
Then send photocopies of the following documents for tax year 2020
Entire divorce decree, separate maintenance decree, or separation agreement.
If You Are: Married, but your spouse did not live with you during the last 6 months of tax year 2020
Then send photocopies of the following documents for tax year 2020
Documents verifying your spouse did not live with you during the last 6 months of the year, such as a lease agreement, utility bills, a letter from a clergy member, or a letter from social services.

Qualifying Person Test

(If your relationship with the child is not in this listing, please see Publication 501, Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information for more information).

If the Person Is: 
Your child (including an adopted child, or a pending adoption),
Your brother or sister, stepbrother or stepsister, or any of their descendants (for example, grandchild, niece, or nephew),
Your eligible foster child (a child placed in your home by an authorized placement agency or by a court order). 
And
You can claim a dependency exemption for the child.
The child lived in your home for more than half of 2020 (temporary absences away from home, such as time spent at school, count as time lived at home).
NoteùA married child must be your dependent. 
Then send photocopies of the following documents for tax year 2020
Birth certificates or other official documents of birth, marriage certificates, letter from an authorized adoption agency, letter from the authorized placement agency, or applicable court document that verify your relationship to the child (send these documents only for a qualifying child who is not your natural or adopted child).
To show both you and your child lived together for more than half of 2020, send: 
• School, medical, daycare, or social service records 
• A letter on the official letterhead from a school, medical provider, social service agency, or place of worship that shows names, common address and dates. (If you send a letter from a relative who provides your daycare, you MUST send at least one additional letter.)
Send as many documents as necessary to show that the child lived with you for more than half of the year. 

Cost of Keeping up a Home Test 

If: You pass both the marriage test and the qualifying person test,
And You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for 2019.
Then send photocopies of the following documents for tax year 2020 Rent receipts, utility bills, grocery receipts, property tax bills, mortgage interest statement, upkeep and repair bills, property insurance statement, and other household bills. 

Catalog Number 35108X
www.irs.gov
Form 886-H-HOH (Rev. 10-2020) 