How to Determine Whether to File as Single or Jointly
Filing status determines the type of income tax credits, deductions and exemptions for which you are eligible. There are five different types of filing statuses: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household and qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child. Even if you are legally married, there are some situations in which you can be considered unmarried in order to claim head of household status or qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.
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Things You'll Need
- Citizenship status
- Marital status
- Spouse's year of death (if applicable)
- How much your household members pay toward the costs of keeping up a home
Instructions
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Figure out if you provided more than half the support of a dependent (a child or a relative) and more than half the upkeep of a household.
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Choose the single filing status if you were unmarried or considered legally separated, divorced, or widowed on the last day of the tax year and provided less than half the support for a dependent.
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Determine if you could be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year, if you have dependents. You can be considered unmarried if you did not live with your spouse the last six months of the year, or are legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree or were never married.
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Choose the head of household filing status, which gives you a higher standard deduction, if you can be considered unmarried.
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Determine if you were legally married on the last day of the tax year. This could include a common law marriage in a state that recognizes this kind of marriage.
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Choose the married filing jointly status, if you are considered to be married. You can also choose this filing status if you lived apart from your spouse during the tax year, but did not legally separate under a divorce of separate maintenance decree.
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Choose the qualifying widow(er) with dependent child status if your spouse died during the tax year and you have a qualifying child. You can also still choose the married filing jointly status, but the qualifying widow(er) status will give you a lower tax.
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Tips & Warnings
The IRS website provides an easy-to-use online decision tree to help you determine your filing status.
If you file married filing separately even if you qualify to file as married filing jointly, your combined tax will be more than any other filing status. Plus, you will not be eligible for many tax credits, including the earned income tax credit.
References
Resources
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