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vacations, life insurance, or transportation. Also don't include the value of your services or those of a member of your household. Qualifying Person See Table 4 to see who is a qualifying person. Any person not described in Table 4 isn't a qualifying person. Example 1—child. Your unmarried child lived with you all year and was 18 years old at the end of the year. Your child didn't provide more than half of their own support and doesn't meet the tests to be a qualifying child of anyone else. As a result, this child is your qualifying child (see Qualifying Child, later) and, because this child is single, your qualifying person for head of household purposes. Example 2—child who isn't qualifying person. The facts are the same as in Exam- ple 1, except your child was 25 years old at the end of the year and your child’s gross income was $5,000. Because your child doesn't meet the age test (explained later under Qualifying Child), your child isn't your qualifying child. Be- cause the child doesn't meet the gross income test (explained later under Qualifying Relative), the child isn't your qualifying relative. As a re- sult, this child isn't your qualifying person for head of household purposes. Example 3—your friend. Your friend lived with you all year. Even though your friend may be your qualifying relative if the gross income and support tests (explained later) are met, your friend isn't your qualifying person for head of household purposes because your friend isn't related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who don't have to live with you, later. See Table 4. Example 4—friend's child. The facts are the same as in Example 3, except your friend's 10-year-old child also lived with you all year. Your friend’s child isn't your qualifying child and, because the child is your friend's qualifying child, your friend’s child isn't your qualifying rel- ative (see Not a Qualifying Child Test, later). As a result, your friend’s child isn't your qualifying person for head of household purposes. Home of qualifying person. Generally, the qualifying person must live with you for more than half of the year. Special rule for parent. If your qualifying person is your parent, you may be eligible to file as head of household even if your parent doesn't live with you. However, you must be able to claim your parent as a dependent. Also, you must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the main home for the en- tire year for your parent. If you pay more than half the cost of keeping your parent in a rest home or home for the eld- erly, that counts as paying more than half the cost of keeping up your parent's main home. Death or birth. You may be eligible to file as head of household even if the qualifying per- son who qualifies you for this filing status is born or dies during the year. To qualify you for head of household filing status, the qualifying person (as defined in Table 4) must be one of the following. • Your qualifying child or qualifying relative who lived with you for more than half the part of the year they were alive. • Your parent for whom you paid, for the en- tire part of the year your parent was alive, more than half the cost of keeping up the home your parent lived in. Example. You are unmarried. Your parent, who you claim as a dependent, lived in an apartment alone. Your parent died on Septem- ber 2. The cost of the upkeep of the apartment for the year until your parent’s death was $6,000. You paid $4,000 and your sibling paid $2,000. Your sibling made no other payments toward your parent’s support. Your parent had no income. Because you paid more than half of the cost of keeping up your parent’s apartment from January 1 until your parent’s death, and you can claim your parent as a dependent, you can file as head of household. Temporary absences. You and your quali- fying person are considered to live together even if one or both of you are temporarily ab- sent from your home due to special circumstan- ces such as illness, education, business, vaca- tion, military service, or detention in a juvenile facility. It must be reasonable to assume the ab- sent person will return to the home after the temporary absence. You must continue to keep up the home during the absence. Adopted child or foster child. You may be eligible to file as head of household if the person who qualifies you for this filing status was an adopted child or foster child and you kept up a home for this person in 2022, the per- son was lawfully placed with you for legal adop- tion by you in 2022, or the person was an eligi- ble foster child placed with you during 2022. The person is considered to have lived with you for more than half of 2022 if your main home was this person's main home for more than half the time since the child was adopted or placed with you in 2022. Kidnapped child. You may be eligible to file as head of household even if the child who is your qualifying person has been kidnapped. You can claim head of household filing status if all the following statements are true. 1. The child is presumed by law enforcement authorities to have been kidnapped by someone who isn't a member of your fam- ily or the child's family. 2. In the year of the kidnapping, the child lived with you for more than half the part of the year before the kidnapping. 3. In the year of the child’s return, the child lived with you for more than half the part of the year following the date of the child’s return. 4. You would have qualified for head of household filing status if the child hadn't been kidnapped. This treatment applies for all years until the earlier of: 1. The year there is a determination that the child is dead, or 2. The year the child would have reached age 18. Qualifying Surviving Spouse If your spouse died in 2022, you can use mar- ried filing jointly as your filing status for 2022 if you otherwise qualify to use that status. The year of death is the last year for which you can file jointly with your deceased spouse. See Mar- ried Filing Jointly, earlier. You may be eligible to use qualifying surviv- ing spouse as your filing status for 2 years fol- lowing the year your spouse died. For example, if your spouse died in 2021 and you haven't re- married, you may be able to use this filing sta- tus for 2022 and 2023. The rules for using this filing status are explained in detail here. This filing status entitles you to use joint re- turn tax rates and the highest standard deduc- tion amount (if you don't itemize deductions). It doesn't entitle you to file a joint return. How to file. Indicate your choice of this filing status by checking the “Qualifying surviving spouse” box on the Filing Status line at the top of Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If the child who quali- fies you for this filing status isn’t claimed as your dependent in the Dependents section of Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child’s name in the entry space at the bottom of the Filing Status section. Use the Married filing jointly column of the Tax Table, or Section B of the Tax Compu- tation Worksheet, to figure your tax. Eligibility rules. You are eligible to file your 2022 return as a qualifying surviving spouse if you meet all the following tests. 1. You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died. It doesn't matter whether you actually filed a joint return. 2. Your spouse died in 2020 or 2021 and you didn't remarry before the end of 2022. 3. You have a child or stepchild (not a foster child) whom you can claim as a dependent or could claim as a dependent except that, for 2022: a. The child had gross income of $4,400 or more, b. The child filed a joint return, or c. You could be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return. If the child isn’t claimed as your de- pendent in the Dependents section on Form 1040 or 1040-SR, enter the child’s name in the entry space at the bottom of the Filing Status section. If you don’t enter the name, it will take us longer to process your return. 4. This child lived in your home all year, ex- cept for temporary absences. See Tempo- rary absences, earlier, under Head of Household. There are also exceptions, de- scribed later, for a child who was born or died during the year and for a kidnapped child. Publication 501 (2022) Page 9