Table of Contents
This chapter helps you determine which filing status to use. There are 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.
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Qualifying Widow(er) With Dependent Child.
If more than one filing status applies to you, choose the one that will give you the lowest tax.
You must determine your filing status before you can determine your filing requirements (chapter 1), standard deduction (chapter 20), and correct tax (chapter 30). You also use your filing status in determining whether you are eligible to claim certain deductions and credits.
Publication
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501 Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information
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519 U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens
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555 Community Property
In general, your filing status depends on whether you are considered unmarried or married. For federal tax purposes, a marriage means only a legal union between a man and a woman as husband and wife.
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You are married and living together as husband and wife.
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You are living together in a common law marriage that is recognized in the state where you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began.
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You are married and living apart, but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
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You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce. For purposes of filing a joint return, you are not considered divorced.
Your filing status is single if, on the last day of the year, you are unmarried or legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree, and you do not qualify for another filing status. To determine your marital status on the last day of the year, see Marital Status , earlier.
You can choose married filing jointly as your filing status if you are married and both you and your spouse agree to file a joint return. On a joint return, you 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.
If you and your spouse decide to file a joint return, your tax may be lower than your combined tax for the other filing statuses. Also, your standard deduction (if you do not itemize deductions) may be higher, and you may qualify for tax benefits that do not apply to other filing statuses.
If you and your spouse each have income, you may want to figure your tax both on a joint return and on separate returns (using the filing status of married filing separately). Choose the method that gives the two of you the lower combined tax.Both you and your spouse must include all of your income, exemptions, and deductions on your joint return.
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Innocent spouse relief.
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Separation of liability, which applies to joint filers who are divorced, widowed, legally separated, or have not lived together for the 12 months ending on the date election of this relief is filed.
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Equitable relief.
You can choose married filing separately as your filing status if you are married. This filing status may benefit you if you want to be responsible only for your own tax or if it results in less tax than filing a joint return.
If you and your spouse do not agree to file a joint return, you may have to use this filing status unless you qualify for head of household status, discussed next.
You may be able to choose head of household filing status if you live apart from your spouse, meet certain tests, and are considered unmarried (explained later, under Head of Household ). This can apply to you even if you are not divorced or legally separated. If you qualify to file as head of household, instead of as married filing separately, your tax may be lower, you may be able to claim the earned income credit and certain other credits, and your standard deduction will be higher. The head of household filing status allows you to choose the standard deduction even if your spouse chooses to itemize deductions. See Head of Household , later, for more information.
Unless you are required to file separately, you should figure your tax both ways (on a joint return and on separate returns). This way you can make sure you are using the filing status that results in the lowest combined tax. However, you will generally pay more combined tax on separate returns than you would on a joint return for the reasons listed under Special Rules, later.If you file as married filing separately, you can use Form 1040A or Form 1040. Select this filing status by checking the box on line 3 of either form. You also must enter your spouse's full name in the space provided and must enter your spouse's SSN or ITIN in the space provided unless your spouse does not have and is not required to have an SSN or ITIN. Use the Married filing separately column of the Tax Table or Section C of the Tax Computation Worksheet to figure your tax.
If you choose married filing separately as your filing status, the following special rules apply. Because of these special rules, you will usually pay more tax on a separate return than if you used another filing status that you qualify for.
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Your tax rate generally will be higher than it would be on a joint return.
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Your exemption amount for figuring the alternative minimum tax will be half that allowed to a joint return filer.
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You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care expenses in most cases, and the amount that you can exclude from income under an employer's dependent care assistance program is limited to $2,500 (instead of $5,000 if you filed a joint return). For more information about these expenses, the credit, and the exclusion, see chapter 32.
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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 Hope credit and the lifetime learning credit), the deduction for student loan interest, or the tuition and fees deduction.
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You cannot exclude any interest income from qualified U.S. savings bonds that you used for higher education expenses.
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If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax year:
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You cannot claim the credit for the elderly or the disabled,
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You will have to include in income more (up to 85%) of any social security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits you received, and
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You cannot roll over amounts from a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA.
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The following deductions and credits are reduced at income levels that are half those for a joint return:
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The child tax credit,
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The retirement savings contributions credit,
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Itemized deductions, and
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The deduction for personal exemptions.
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Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of $3,000 if you filed 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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Your first-time homebuyer credit is limited to $3,750 (instead of $7,500 if you filed a joint return).
You can change your filing status by filing an amended return using Form 1040X.
If you or your spouse (or both of you) file a separate return, you generally can change to a joint return any time within 3 years from the due date of the separate return or returns. This does not include any extensions. A separate return includes a return filed by you or your spouse claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household filing status.
Once you file a joint return, you cannot choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return.
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all the following requirements.
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You are unmarried or “considered unmarried” on the last day of the year.
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You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year.
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A “qualifying person” lived with you in the home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school). However, if the “qualifying person” is your dependent parent, he or she does not have to live with you. See Special rule for parent , later, under Qualifying Person.
If you qualify to file as head of household, your tax rate usually will be lower than the rates for single or married filing separately. You will also receive a higher standard deduction than if you file as single or married filing separately.
To qualify for head of household status, you must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year. You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.
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You file a separate return, defined earlier under Joint Return After Separate Returns .
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You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
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Your spouse did not 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. See Temporary absences , under Qualifying Person, later.
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Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year. (See Home of qualifying person , under Qualifying Person, later, for rules applying to a child's birth, death, or temporary absence during the year.)
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You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, you meet this test if you cannot claim the exemption only because the noncustodial parent can claim the child using the rules described in Children of divorced or separated parents under Qualifying Child in chapter 3, or in Support Test for Children of Divorced or Separated Parents under Qualifying Relative in chapter 3. The general rules for claiming an exemption for a dependent are explained under Exemptions for Dependents in chapter 3.
If you were considered married for part of the year and lived in a community property state (listed earlier under Married Filing Separately), special rules may apply in determining your income and expenses. See Publication 555 for more information.
To qualify for head of household status, you must pay more than half of the cost of keeping up a home for the year. You can determine whether you paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home by using the worksheet shown on this page.
Cost of Keeping Up a Home
Amount You Paid |
Total Cost |
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Property taxes | $ | $ |
Mortgage interest expense | ||
Rent | ||
Utility charges | ||
Upkeep and repairs | ||
Property insurance | ||
Food consumed on the premises |
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Other household expenses | ||
Totals | $ | $ |
Minus total amount you paid | () | |
Amount others paid | $ | |
If the total amount you paid is more than the amount others paid, you meet the requirement of paying more than half the cost of keeping up the home. |
See Table 2-1 to see who is a qualifying person.
Any person not described in Table 2-1 is not a qualifying person.
Example.
You are unmarried. Your mother, for whom you can claim an exemption, lived in an apartment by herself. She died on September 2. The cost of the upkeep of her apartment for the year until her death was $6,000. You paid $4,000 and your brother paid $2,000. Your brother made no other payments toward your mother's support. Your mother had no income. Because you paid more than half the cost of keeping up your mother's apartment from January 1 until her death, and you can claim an exemption for her, you can file as a head of household.
Table 2-1. Who Is a Qualifying Person Qualifying You To File as Head of Household?1
Caution. See the text of this chapter for the other requirements you must meet to claim head of household filing status.
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IF the person is your . . . | AND . . . | THEN that person is . . . | ||
qualifying child (such as a son, daughter, or grandchild who lived with you more than half the year and meets certain other tests)2 | he or she is single | a qualifying person, whether or not you can claim an exemption for the person. | ||
he or she is married and you can claim an exemption for him or her | a qualifying person. | |||
he or she is married and you cannot claim an exemption for him or her | not a qualifying person.3 | |||
qualifying relative4 who is your father or mother | you can claim an exemption for him or her5 | a qualifying person.6 | ||
you cannot claim an exemption for him or her | not a qualifying person. | |||
qualifying relative4 other than your father or mother (such as a grandparent, brother, or sister who meets certain tests) | he or she lived with you more than half the year, and he or she is related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with you in chapter 3 and you can claim an exemption for him or her5 | a qualifying person. | ||
he or she did not live with you more than half the year | not a qualifying person. | |||
he or she is not related to you in one of the ways listed under Relatives who do not have to live with you in chapter 3 and is your qualifying relative only because he or she lived with you all year as a member of your household | not a qualifying person. | |||
you cannot claim an exemption for him or her | not a qualifying person. |
1A person cannot qualify more than one taxpayer to use the head of household filing status for the year. | ||
2The term “qualifying child” is defined in chapter 3. Note. If you are a noncustodial parent, the term “qualifying child” for head of household filing status does not include a child who is your qualifying child for exemption purposes only because of the rules described under Children of divorced or separated parents under Qualifying Child in chapter 3. If you are the custodial parent and those rules apply, the child generally is your qualifying child for head of household filing status even though the child is not a qualifying child for whom you can claim an exemption. | ||
3This person is a qualifying person if the only reason you cannot claim the exemption is that you can be claimed as a dependent on someone else's return. | ||
4The term “qualifying relative” is defined in chapter 3. | ||
5If you can claim an exemption for a person only because of a multiple support agreement, that person is not a qualifying person. See Multiple Support Agreement in chapter 3. | ||
6See Special rule for parent for an additional requirement. |
If your spouse died in 2008, you can use married filing jointly as your filing status for 2008 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. See Married Filing Jointly , earlier.
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 2007, and you have not remarried, you may be able to use this filing status for 2008 and 2009.
This filing status entitles you to use joint return tax rates and the highest standard deduction amount (if you do not itemize deductions). This status does not entitle you to file a joint return.
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You were entitled to file a joint return with your spouse for the year your spouse died. It does not matter whether you actually filed a joint return.
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Your spouse died in 2006 or 2007 and you did not remarry before the end of 2008.
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You have a child or stepchild for whom you can claim an exemption. This does not include a foster child.
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This child lived in your home all year, except for temporary absences. See Temporary absences , earlier, under Head of Household. There are also exceptions, described later, for a child who was born or died during the year, and for a kidnapped child.
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You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. See Keeping Up a Home , earlier, under Head of Household.
Example.
John Reed's wife died in 2006. John has not remarried. During 2007 and 2008, he continued to keep up a home for himself and his child, who lives with him and for whom he can claim an exemption. For 2006 he was entitled to file a joint return for himself and his deceased wife. For 2007 and 2008, he can file as qualifying widower with a dependent child. After 2008 he can file as head of household if he qualifies.
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