How to choose the right tax filing status

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Your marital status and family circumstances help determine which filing status applies to you.

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Doing your taxes is complicated. But at least one of the first questions on Form 1040 seems easy enough: “What is your filing status?” After all, aren’t you either single or married?

In fact, there are five filing statuses under federal tax law. Most taxpayers file as single, married filing jointly, or married filing separately. Depending on your circumstances, you may qualify for head of household status or, if your spouse has died, qualifying surviving spouse.

Your filing status affects many aspects of tax preparation, including whether you need to file a return, your standard deduction, eligibility for certain tax credits, and the amount of tax you owe. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) uses your filing status to determine which tax rules apply to you.

The starting point in determining your filing status is your legal marital status on December 31, the last day of the tax year for most individual taxpayers. Depending on your circumstances, the death of a spouse or having a qualifying dependent may also affect which filing status you can claim.

Your filing status is single if you were unmarried, divorced, or legally separated on December 31. Registered domestic partnerships and civil unions generally aren’t treated as marriages for federal tax purposes. Taxpayers in these relationships typically file as single. If your marriage is legally annulled, you’re considered single for tax purposes.

Married taxpayers can choose between married filing jointly and married filing separately. If you file jointly, you and your spouse report your combined income, deductions, and credits on one tax return. You can file a joint return even if only one of you had income.

Some couples choose to file separately because each spouse is responsible only for their own tax return and tax liability, which may be important in certain financial or legal situations. Borrowers with income-driven student loan repayment plans may also find that filing separately reduces their monthly payments.

In most cases, you’ll pay more combined federal tax by filing separately. That’s because many tax credits, deductions, and income thresholds are less favorable for married taxpayers who file separate returns. Filing separately can limit or eliminate tax benefits such as the earned income tax credit (EITC), education credits, the child and dependent care credit, and portions of the child tax credit.

If you qualify for head of household filing status, you’ll generally receive a larger standard deduction and a more favorable tax rate than taxpayers who file as single or married filing separately.

To be head of household, you generally must meet these requirements:

Were unmarried or considered unmarried for tax purposes. You must be unmarried on December 31 or meet IRS requirements to be treated as unmarried. If you are married, generally, your spouse must not have lived in your home during the last six months of the year. Temporary absences for work, school, military service, or medical care don’t count.

Paid more than half the cost of maintaining your home. Qualifying expenses generally include rent or mortgage payments, property taxes, utilities, home insurance, food consumed at home, and repairs.

Supported a qualifying person. A qualifying person may be a child, parent, or other dependent relative. The IRS generally requires that the person live with you for “more than half the year.” A qualifying parent doesn’t have to live with you, provided you can claim the parent as a dependent and paid more than half the cost of maintaining the parent’s home. Different rules may apply for children of divorced or separated parents.

If your spouse died during the tax year, you may still be eligible to file a joint return. If you have a dependent child and meet certain other requirements, you may file as a qualifying surviving spouse for the next two tax years, provided you don’t remarry.

To be considered a qualifying surviving spouse, you must have:

If you remain single and your child remains a dependent after your qualifying surviving spouse status ends, you may qualify to file as head of household.

Major life events such as marriage, divorce, legal separation, the death of a spouse, or the birth of a child can affect your filing status. Choose the one that applies to you when you file your next tax return. Your status on December 31 determines your filing status for the entire tax year.

Although your filing status is generally determined by your circumstances, qualifying as head of household or qualifying surviving spouse can reduce your tax bill. If your circumstances changed during the year, review the requirements to ensure you use the filing status that applies to you.