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An individual's tax liability depends upon two variables: the individual's filing status and the taxable income. The status can determine the correct amount of tax, whether the taxpayer can take certain tax deductions or exemptions that could lower the final tax bill, and even whether one must file a
475:
There are five possible filing status categories: single individual, married person filing jointly or surviving spouse, married person filing separately, head of household, and qualifying widow(er) with dependent children. A taxpayer who qualifies for more than one filing status may choose a status.
508:
A married couple is not required to file jointly. If one lived apart from one's spouse for the last six months of the year, one may also qualify for head of household status. If a spouse dies during the year, the surviving spouse may generally still file a joint return with the deceased spouse for
556:
Certain taxpayers, who maintain their homes as principal residences of qualifying dependents and whose spouses died during either of the last two preceding taxable years, may be considered surviving spouses as long as they have not remarried. If the two-year time period has run out following the
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Married couples filing separately does not create an identical situation to the two parties filing as single. There are different brackets for unmarried taxpayers from the ones for married taxpayers who file separately. Unmarried taxpayers enjoy wider tax brackets and so pay less tax on the same
504:
Marital status is decided based on a person's marital status on
December 31. If a couple is married on December 31 of the taxable year, the couple may file a joint return for the year. However, even if the first day of legal separation or divorce from the spouse is December 31, one cannot file a
537:
filing status, one must be unmarried and pay more than half the cost of maintaining a home for oneself and another relative who lives with that person for over half the year and can be claimed as the dependent. A "dependent" for these purpose includes grandchild and step-grandchildren, not just
492:
Generally, if someone is unmarried, divorced, a registered domestic partner, or legally separated according to state law on
December 31, that person must file as a single person for that year because the marital status at year-end applies for the entire tax year.
524:
Certain taxpayers, who would otherwise be considered married but file separately, maintain a household for a child and have a spouse not a member of the household for the last six months of the taxable year shall be considered unmarried.
505:
joint return for any portion of that year. Certain married individuals, not legally separated or divorced, may still be considered single for purposes of filing tax returns if they are living apart.
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Although the joint return often produces lower taxes, the opposite is sometimes the case. To accommodate for such circumstances, married couples may decide to file separately for a taxable year.
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Filing as a head of household can have substantial financial benefits over filing as a single status taxpayer. As a head of household, one may obtain a more generous tax brackets and larger
753:: Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition (St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
1020:
Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income
Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition (St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
980:
Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income
Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition (St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
924:
Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income
Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition (St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
811:
Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income
Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition (St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
706:
Samuel A. Donaldson, "Federal Income
Taxation Of Individuals: Cases, Problems and Materials", 2d. edition St. Paul: Thompson-West 2007, 2d edition, 5-7.
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There are some exceptions, such as qualifying as a head of household or as a surviving spouse, that do not require one to file as a single taxpayer.
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that year because the taxpayer's marital status at the time of the spouse's death applies to the entire taxable year.
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return at all. One must file the status honestly, or it will be considered fraudulent and penalties may be assessed.
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Generally, the marital status on the last day of the year determines the status for the entire year.
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There are many special rules and exceptions that apply to the surviving spouse filing status.
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There are many special rules and exceptions applicable to head of household filing status.
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spouse's death, one may still qualify for head of household status.
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https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105098,00.html
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https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=105098,00.html
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407:The examples and perspective in this article
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552:Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child
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445:Learn how and when to remove this message
68:Learn how and when to remove this message
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564:Importance of choosing correct status
1050:6013(b)(5) § Section 6013(b)(5)
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468:is an important factor in computing
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18:
800:26 U.S.C. 61, Section 6013(b)(5)(B)
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579:Rate schedule (federal income tax)
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600:Choose Your Correct Filing Status
284:Automated payment transaction tax
1065:United States federal income tax
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148:Generation-skipping transfer tax
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16:Tax status in the United States
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163:Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
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248:State and local tax deduction
93:Taxation in the United States
300:Efficient Taxation of Income
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538:children and stepchildren.
421:, discuss the issue on the
168:Internal Revenue Code (IRC)
43:. The specific problem is:
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741:26 U.S.C. 1, Section 2(b)
513:Married filing separately
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480:Determining filing status
358:United States portal
226:State and local taxation
188:Constitutional authority
83:This article is part of
118:Alternative minimum tax
642:26 U.S.C. 1, Section 2
626:26 U.S.C. 1, Section 1
500:Married filing jointly
462:federal income tax law
315:Hall–Rabushka flat tax
340:Border-adjustment tax
427:create a new article
419:improve this article
409:may not represent a
295:Competitive Tax Plan
50:improve this article
39:to meet Knowledge's
543:standard deductions
533:To qualify for the
325:Taxpayer Choice Act
521:amount of income.
276:Federal tax reform
885:§ 7703(a)(2)
865:§ 7703(a)(1)
535:head of household
529:Head of household
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123:Capital gains tax
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238:Property tax
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58:January 2019
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48:Please help
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33:
1012:§ 2(b)
964:§ 2(b)
158:Payroll tax
52:if you can.
1059:Categories
585:References
435:March 2013
213:Resistance
153:Income tax
138:Excise tax
133:Estate tax
45:reference.
1070:Tax terms
423:talk page
243:Sales tax
999:§ 2
916:§ 1
875:§ 1
855:§ 1
834:§ 2
824:§ 1
573:See also
417:You may
310:Flat tax
143:Gift tax
85:a series
34:require
330:USA Tax
305:FairTax
253:Use tax
208:Evasion
203:Protest
183:History
36:cleanup
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