ATTN: California Taxpayers – Head of Household

Newest update on the ‘Head of Household’ Audit Letters

Sacramento – The Franchise Tax Board (FTB) announced mailing more than 100,000 audit letters to taxpayers to verify their “Head of Household”(HOH) filing status on their 2012 state tax return. We are encouraging all of our clients – once the questionnaire is received – to call for an appointment to come in at (619) 589-8680.

Taxpayers who do not qualify will have their tax reassessed at either the single or married-filing-separate filing status. FTB assessed $26 million in additional tax to the nearly 38,000 taxpayers who used this status last year and did not meet its requirements. 

FTB encourages taxpayers who receive a HOH letter to respond promptly by completing the enclosed questionnaire. Failure to respond could result in a penalty.

Video Link: Daniel Tahara speaks about it here.

Each year FTB reviews tax returns of taxpayers who claim the HOH filing status because the qualifications are commonly misunderstood. You can generally claim the Head of Household filing status on your tax return if you are unmarried, have cared for a qualified person for more than half the year, and paid more than half the cost of maintaining your home. Taxpayers who can claim this filing status benefit from a higher standard deduction and lower tax rates as compared to the single filing status. More than two million California taxpayers use this filing status each year.

Questionnaires can be submitted by any of these methods:

  • Respond electronically at ftb.ca.gov. Use HOH Audit Letter Web Response page.
  • Respond by fax at 866.223.8195.
  • Respond by mail using the pre-addressed envelope provided with the audit letter.

FTB provides the following tools on its website to assist taxpayers: