Hurricane-prone states The day in pictures Get the USA TODAY app Start the day smarter ☀️ U.S. Elections Sports Entertainment Life Money Tech Travel Opinion ONLY AT USA TODAY: Newsletters For Subscribers From the Archives Crossword eNewspaper Magazines Investigations Podcasts Video Humankind Just Curious Best-selling Booklist 24/7 Live Stream Legals OUR PORTFOLIO: 10Best USAT Wine Club Online Sports Betting Online Casino Reviewed Homefront Blueprint Southern Kitchen Best Auto Insurance Best Pet Insurance Best Travel Insurance Best Credit Cards Best CD Rates Best Personal Loans Home Internet FACT CHECK Taxes Add Topic # Fact check: Head of household tax status depends on yearly costs, not housing type ![\\"Portrait](\\"/gcdn/presto/2022/04/18/USAT/5e65e405-399e-4a65-8d35-f90f601a30ce- BrieAnna_Frank_Headshot_1.jpg?crop=490,490,x0,y0&width=48&height=48&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\") BrieAnna J. Frank USA TODAY ![\\"\\"](\\"/gcdn/-mm-/b2b05a4ab25f4fca0316459e1c7404c537a89702/c=0-0-1365-768/local/-/media/2022/04/07/USATODAY/usatsports/imageforentry2-gwh.jpg?width=660&height=371&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp\\"/) PlayPause Sound OnSound Off 0:00 1:25 AD SKIP ClosedCaptionOpen ShareEnter Full ScreenExit Full Screen ## The claim: People in public or Section 8 housing can’t file taxes as head of household On the first official day of the 2023 tax filing season, a Jan. 23 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) claimed taxpayers in some types of housing would only be eligible for one filing status. “If you live in public housing or have Section 8 you cannot claim head of household as your filing status on your return!” the post reads. “Your filing status would be considered SINGLE.” The post was shared more than 150 times in two days. Follow us on Facebook! Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks ## Our rating: False Living in public housing or having a Section 8 voucher does not automatically disqualify anyone from filing as head of household, a tax expert told USA TODAY. However, there are restrictions based on the amount of housing expenses paid by the resident that do affect some filers. ## Yearly costs, not housing type, determines tax filing status Living in public housing or having a Section 8 voucher “does not automatically disqualify someone” from claiming head of household as their tax filing status, said Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst at the Tax Foundation. Publication 501, an IRS document that outlines tax rules, says a person can file as head of household if they are unmarried on the last day of the year, paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year and had a qualifying person living with them for more than half the year (except in some situations, such as a child who leaves temporarily for school or a dependent parent who does not live in the home). The publication says expenses including rent, mortgage interest, home insurance, utilities and real estate taxes should be factored into a calculation of the cost of keeping up the home. More: Is it better to pay someone to do your taxes or do them yourself? We\'ll help you decide. “If a public program covered part of the housing expense, that needs to be accounted for to determine filing status,” Watson said. That means taxpayers should “look closely at the numbers” to determine whether their costs qualify them for filing as head of the household, Watson said. Publication 501 includes a worksheet (p. 16) for taxpayers to determine whether they paid more than half the cost of keeping up their home. The IRS Interactive Tax Assistant, a tool for determining filing status, does not ask users whether they are in public or Section 8 housing – only whether they paid more than half of the cost of their home\'s yearly upkeep. USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the claim for comment. ## Our fact-check sources: * IRS, accessed Jan. 26, Interactive Tax Assistant * IRS, Dec. 9, 2022, Publication 501 * Stacy Engle (IRS spokesperson), Jan. 26, Email exchange with USA TODAY * Garrett Watson, Jan. 25, Email exchange with USA TODAY Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or electronic newspaper replica here. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 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People in public or Section 8 housing can’t file taxes as head of household