Your Income Tax Filing Status

The taxpayer is considered single if they are unmarried or separated from their spouse either through divorce or a legal separation. They are considered single if they were single, divorced, or separated by December 31. If one is a widow(er) whose spouse died before the end of the year is single unless he or she meets the qualifying widow(er) tests.

Taxpayers may file jointly if on the last day of the year (or any day before) they are married and living together, married and do not live together but are not legally separated or divorced, they are separated under a divorce decree that is not final, or living together as a common law marriage (only if common law marriage is recognized in the state the taxpayers reside).

If one spouse dies before the year’s end, the survivor can still file jointly if the couple met one of the above mentioned situations on the date of the death and the survivor did not remarry the same year.

Same-sex couples cannot file a married filing jointly return. Same sex couples cannot be considered married for federal tax purposes even if the state in which they reside sanctions such marriages [Mueller (87 AFTR 2d 2001-2052, 7^th Cir.20010]. The Defense of Marriage Act (Pub. L.104-199) states that the word “marriage” is a legal union between one man and one woman.

Any taxpayers who are married and the end of the year do not have to file jointly. Married persons have the option of filing separate.

A taxpayer must meet ALL of the head of household tests to file with this status.The taxpayer cannot be married (unless they meet the “unmarried” requirements for legal purposes). The taxpayer must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home. The home had to have been the main home for more than half the year. Dependents must meet the dependent test requirements.

A taxpayer must meet all of the following tests:

The tax payers spouse had to have died in this tax year, or the previous. The taxpayer was entitled to file a joint return in the year the spouse died. The taxpayer did not remarry during the tax year of filing. The taxpayer had to pay more than half the cost of keeping up with home. The taxpayer’s home has to be the main home for over half of the year (and dependents).

If you need help understanding your income tax, visit the Internal Revenue Service website or Check out "Tax Filing Tips."