Generally, a taxpayer's marital status on the last day of the year determines their filing status for the year.
Filing Status determines:
- If the taxpayer is required to file a federal tax return
- If taxpayer should file a return to receive a refund
- Taxpayer's standard deduction
- Taxpayer's ability to claim certain tax credits
- Amount a taxpayer will owe
Single
A taxpayer's filing status is Single if, on the last day of the year, they were unmarried or legally separated from their spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree, and they do not qualify for another filing status. For a divorced individual, the divorce decree must be final by the end of the year, i.e., not an interlocutory decree.
Qualifying Surviving Spouse
A taxpayer may be eligible to file as a qualifying surviving spouse, allowing them qualify for the same standard deduction as Married Filing Joint, if they meet the following requirements:
- The taxpayer qualified for married filing jointly with their spouse for the year he or she died. (It doesn’t matter if the taxpayer actually filed as married filing jointly.)
- The taxpayer didn’t remarry before the close of the tax year in which their spouse died.
- The taxpayer has a child, stepchild, or adopted child they are claiming as a dependent. (This requirement doesn’t apply to a foster child.)
- The taxpayer paid more than half the cost of maintaining their home. This must be the main home of their dependent child for the entire year, except for temporary absences.
Married Filing Joint
Taxpayers can choose married filing jointly as their filing status if they are married and both the taxpayer and the spouse agree to file a joint return.
When taxpayers choose to file a joint tax return, they will report combined income and deductions for the taxpayer and the spouse, even if one of them had no income or deductions for the year. Filing MFJ, taxpayers may have a lower income tax rate as well as a higher standard deduction compared to other filing statuses. They may also qualify for certain tax credits and benefits that other statuses do not qualify for.
Note that if a taxpayer's spouse died in the current tax year, they can file married filing joint for the current tax year, if they otherwise qualify to use that status. The year of death is the last year for which a taxpayer can file jointly with their deceased spouse.
Married Filing Separately
Taxpayers who use married filing separately are married individuals who decide not to file a joint tax return, or who are separated and do not qualify to use head of household status. Married couples using this filing status should refer to IRS Publication 501 to learn more about the credit and deduction limitations.
Head of Household
A taxpayer may be able to file as head of household if they meet all the following requirements:
-
The taxpayer was unmarried on the last day of the year.
A taxpayer is considered unmarried if any of the following is true:- They were legally separated according to their state law under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance at the end of the year. For a divorced individual, the divorce decree must be final by the end of the year, i.e., not an interlocutory decree.
- They (a) are married but lived apart from their spouse for the last 6 months of the year, (b) are filing a separate return from their spouse, (c) paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year for (d) their child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year, and (e) either are claiming the child as a dependent or could claim the child except that the child's other parent can claim the child under the rule for children of divorced or separated parents.
- They are married, their spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year, and the election to treat the alien spouse as a resident alien is not made.
- They paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
- A "qualifying person" lived with the taxpayer in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the qualifying person is their dependent parent, he or she does not have to physically live with the taxpayer. If in doubt about whether or not an individual is a qualifying person, see "Who Qualifies as Your Dependent" in the 1040 instructions here.
If you are unsure about whether or not an individual can file as Head of Household (HOH), you can use the HOH worksheet to determine eligibility. By default, this worksheet is not enabled to be used in tax returns. See here to find out how to make it available to use in tax returns.
A taxpayer age 17 and up may qualify for Head of Household filing status if they are:
- Claiming younger siblings as dependents and
- Are single or did not live with their spouse at any time during the last half of the tax year.
Additional Information:
Publication 17, Your Federal Income Tax
Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information