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It certainly looks like one the easiest questions you have to answer to on your income tax form, check the right box and move on. But, when it comes to the IRS and taxes, nothing is as simple at it seems!
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First of all, you should keep in mind that your filing status is very important as it can affect the amount of tax you owe for the year and it may even determine if you must file a tax return.
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You should also know that your marital status on Dec. 31 is your status for the whole year.
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- You must determine your filing status before you can determine whether you must file a tax return, your standard deduction, and your tax. You also use your filing status to determine whether you are eligible to claim certain deductions and credits.
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| Now, to quickly go over information that everybody knows, here are the five filing statuses: |
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Single, |
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Married Filing Jointly, |
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Married Filing Separately, |
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Head of Household, and |
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Qualifying Widow(er) With Dependent Child. |
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| Generally speaking, your filing status depends on whether you are considered unmarried or married. Go on reading and you will find different aspects that will help you choose the right filing status for yourself. |
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| You are considered unmarried for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you are either unmarried, or legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. State law governs whether you are married or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree. |
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| If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year. |
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| If you obtain a divorce for the sole purpose of filing tax returns as unmarried individuals, and at the time of divorce you intend to and do, in fact, remarry each other in the next tax year, you and your spouse must file as married individuals in both years. |
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| If you obtain a court decree of annulment, which holds that no valid marriage ever existed, you are considered unmarried even if you filed joint returns for earlier years. You must file Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, claiming single or head of household status for all tax years that are affected by the annulment and not closed by the statute of limitations for filing a tax return. Generally, for a credit or refund, you must file Form 1040X within 3 years (including extensions) after the date you filed your original return or within 2 years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. |
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| If you are considered unmarried, you may be able to file as a head of household or as a qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child. |
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| To qualify for head of household status, you must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year and meet all the following tests: |
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- You file a separate return. A separate return includes a return claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
- Your spouse didn't live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year. Your spouse is considered to live in your home even if he or she is temporarily absent due to special circumstances.
- Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
- You must be able to claim an exemption for the child.
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If your spouse died in 2015, you can use married filing jointly as your filing status for 2015 if you otherwise qualify to use that status. The year of death is the last year for which you can file jointly with your deceased spouse.
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| You may be eligible to use qualifying widow(er) with dependent child as your filing status for 2 years following the year your spouse died. For example, if your spouse died in 2014, and you haven't remarried, you may be able to use this filing status for 2015 and 2016. This filing status entitles you to use joint return tax rates and the highest standard deduction amount (if you do not itemize deductions). It doesn't entitle you to file a joint return. |
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| You are eligible to file your 2015 return as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child if you meet all of the following tests: |
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You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died. It doesn't matter whether you actually filed a joint return. |
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Your spouse died in 2013 or 2014 and you didn't remarry before the end of 2015. |
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You have a child or stepchild for whom you can claim an exemption. This doesn't include a foster child. |
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This child lived in your home all year, except for temporary absences. |
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You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. |
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| You are considered married for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests. |
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- You are married and living together.
- You are living together in a common law marriage recognized in the state where you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began.
- You are married and living apart, but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
- You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce.
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| For federal tax purposes, the marriage of a same-sex couple is treated the same as the marriage of a man to a woman. The term “spouse” in this chapter includes an individual married to a person of the same sex. |
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However, individuals who have entered into a registered domestic partnership, civil union, or other similar relationship that is not considered a marriage under state law are not considered married for federal tax purposes.
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You can choose married filing jointly as your filing status if you are considered married, and both you and your spouse agree to file a joint return.
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| On a joint return, you and your spouse report your combined income and deduct your combined allowable expenses. You can file a joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions. |
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| Both of you may be held responsible, jointly and individually, for the tax and any interest or penalty due on your joint return. This means that if one spouse doesn't pay the tax due, the other may have to. Or, if one spouse doesn't report the correct tax, both spouses may be responsible for any additional taxes assessed by the IRS. One spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due even if all the income was earned by the other spouse. |
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| Once you file a joint return, you cannot choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return. |
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| You can also file as married filing separately if you believe your spouse isn't reporting all of his or her income, or you do not want to be responsible for any taxes due if your spouse doesn't have enough tax withheld or doesn't pay enough estimated tax. |
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| If you choose married filing separately as your filing status, you should consider all of the following details. |
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Your tax rate generally is higher than on a joint return. |
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Your exemption amount for figuring the alternative minimum tax is half that allowed on a joint return. |
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You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care expenses in most cases, and the amount you can exclude from income under an employer's dependent care assistance program is limited to $2,500 (instead of $5,000).
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You cannot take the earned income credit. |
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You cannot take the exclusion or credit for adoption expenses in most cases. |
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You cannot take the education credits (the American opportunity credit and lifetime learning credit) or the deduction for student loan interest.
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You cannot exclude any interest income from qualified U.S. savings bonds you used for higher education expenses.
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If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year you cannot claim the credit for the elderly or the disabled, and you must include in income a greater percentage (up to 85%) of any social security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits you received.
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Some credits and deductions are reduced at income levels half those for a joint return (these include the child tax credit, the deduction for personal exemptions, and itemized deductions).
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Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of $3,000 on a joint return).
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If your spouse itemizes deductions, you cannot claim the standard deduction. If you can claim the standard deduction, your basic standard deduction is half the amount allowed on a joint return.
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| As you can see, sometimes more than one filing status may apply to you. If that happens, choose the one that allows you to pay the least amount of tax. Or, even better, choose the right tax preparer who will help you navigate through all the special rules and exceptions to the rules that we haven’t mentioned above, make sure that you comply with all the regulations and take advantage of all the deductions and credits you are entitled to. |
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