head of household

At tax time, being a parent comes with certain perks: the Child Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, a bigger Earned Income Tax Credit, among others. But while single parents have many of the same breaks as married parents, there are some they miss out on.

In 2009, more than 141 million individual tax returns were filed with the IRS -- representing just under half of all households in the U.S. Clearly, not all households or people believe they must file a federal income tax return. So, who exactly has to file a return? If you're a U.S. citizen or...