Publication 504 |
2001 Tax Year |
Filing Status
Your filing status is used in determining whether you must file a
return, your standard deduction, and the correct tax. It may also be
used in determining whether you can claim certain deductions and
credits. The filing status you can choose depends partly on your
marital status on the last day of your tax year.
Marital status.
If you are considered unmarried, your filing status is single or,
if you meet certain requirements, head of household or qualifying
widow(er). If you are considered married, your filing status is either
married filing a joint return or married filing a separate return. For
information about the single and qualifying widow(er) filing statuses,
see Publication 501.
Considered unmarried.
You are considered unmarried for the whole year if either of the
following applies.
- You have obtained a final decree of divorce or separate
maintenance by the last day of your tax year. You must follow
your state law to determine if you are divorced or legally separated.
Exception. If you and your spouse obtain a divorce
in one year for the sole purpose of filing tax returns as unmarried
individuals, and at the time of divorce you intend to remarry each
other and do so in the next tax year, you and your spouse must file as
married individuals.
- You have obtained a decree of annulment, which
holds that no valid marriage ever existed. You must file amended
returns (Form 1040X, Amended U.S. Individual Income Tax
Return) for all tax years affected by the annulment that are not
closed by the statute of limitations. The statute of limitations
generally does not end until 3 years after the due date of your
original return. On the amended return you will change your filing
status to single, or if you meet certain requirements, head of
household.
Considered married.
You are considered married for the whole year if you are separated
but you have not obtained a final decree of divorce or separate
maintenance by the last day of your tax year. An interlocutory decree
is not a final decree.
Exception.
If you live apart from your spouse, under certain circumstances you
may be considered unmarried and can file as head of household. See
Head of Household, later.
Joint Return
If you are married, you and your spouse can choose to file a joint
return. If you file jointly, you both must include all your income,
exemptions, deductions, and credits on that return. You can file a
joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions.
If both you and your spouse have income, you should usually figure
your tax on both a joint return and separate returns to see which
gives you the lower tax.
To file a joint return, at least one of you must be a U.S. citizen
or resident at the end of the tax year. If either of you was a
nonresident alien at any time during the tax year, you can file a
joint return only if you agree to treat the nonresident spouse as a
resident of the United States. This means that your combined worldwide
incomes are subject to U.S. income tax. These rules are explained in
Publication 519,
U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.
Signing a joint return.
Both you and your spouse must sign the return, or it will not be
considered a joint return.
Joint and individual liability.
Both you and your spouse are responsible, jointly and individually,
for the tax and any interest or penalty due on your joint return. This
means that one spouse may be held liable for all the tax due even if
all the income was earned by the other spouse.
Divorced taxpayers.
If you are divorced, you are still jointly and individually
responsible for any tax, interest, and penalties due on a joint return
for a tax year ending before your divorce. This responsibility applies
even if your divorce decree states that your former spouse will be
responsible for any amounts due on previously filed joint returns.
Relief from joint liability.
In some cases, a spouse will be relieved of the tax, interest, and
penalties on a joint return. You can ask for relief no matter how
small the liability.
There are three types of relief available.
- Separation of liability, which may apply to joint filers who
are divorced, widowed, legally separated, or have not lived together
for the past 12 months.
- Innocent spouse relief, which may apply to all joint
filers.
- Equitable relief, which applies to all joint filers.
Innocent spouse relief and separation of liability apply only to
items incorrectly reported on the return. If a spouse does not qualify
for innocent spouse relief or separation of liability, the IRS may
grant equitable relief.
Each of these kinds of relief is different, and they each have
different requirements. You must file Form 8857 to request
any of these kinds of relief. Publication 971
explains these kinds of
relief and who may qualify for them.
Tax refund applied to spouse's debts.
The overpayment shown on your joint return may be used to pay the
past-due amount of your spouse's debts. You can get your share of the
refund if you qualify as an injured spouse.
Injured spouse.
You are an injured spouse if you file a joint return and all or
part of your share of the overpayment was, or is expected to be,
applied against your spouse's past-due federal tax, state income tax,
child or spousal support, or federal nontax debt, such as a student
loan. You should file Form 8379, if you meet all
three of the following conditions.
- You are not required to pay the past-due amount.
- You reported income such as wages, taxable interest, etc.,
on the joint return.
- You made and reported payments such as federal income tax
withheld from your wages or estimated tax payments or you claimed
refundable credits (such as the earned income credit) on the joint
return.
If all three of the above apply and you want your share
of the overpayment shown on the joint return refunded to you, complete
Form 8379. If your main home was in a community property state (see
Community Property, later), you can file Form 8379 if only
item 1 applies. Follow the instructions on the form.
Refunds that involve community property states must be divided
according to local law. If you live in a community property state in
which all community property is subject to the debts of either spouse,
your entire refund can be used to pay those debts.
Separate Returns
If you and your spouse file separate returns, you should each
report only your own income, exemptions, deductions, and credits on
your individual return. You can file a separate return even if only
one of you had income. For information on exemptions you can claim on
your separate return, see Exemptions, later.
Community or separate income.
If you live in a community property state and file a separate
return, your income may be separate income or community income for
income tax purposes. For more information, see Community Income
under Community Property, later.
Separate liability.
If you and your spouse file separately, you each are responsible
only for the tax due on your own return.
Itemized deductions.
If you and your spouse file separate returns and one of you
itemizes deductions, the other spouse will not qualify for the
standard deduction and should also itemize deductions.
Dividing itemized deductions.
You may be able to claim itemized deductions on a separate return
for certain expenses that you paid separately or jointly with your
spouse. See Table 1.
Table 1. Itemized Deductions on Separate ReturnsDeductions
Separate returns may give you a higher tax.
Some married couples file separate returns because each wants to be
responsible only for his or her own tax. But in almost all instances,
if you file separate returns, you will pay more combined federal tax
than you would with a joint return. This is because the tax rate is
higher for married persons filing separately. The following rules also
apply if you file a separate return.
- You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care
expenses in most cases.
- You cannot take the earned income credit.
- You cannot take the exclusion or credit for adoption
expenses in most instances.
- You cannot take the credit for higher education expenses or
the deduction for student loan interest.
- You cannot exclude the interest from qualified savings bonds
that you used for higher education expenses.
- If you lived with your spouse at any time during the tax
year:
- You cannot claim the credit for the elderly or the disabled,
- You will have to include in income up to 85% of any social
security or equivalent railroad retirement benefits you received, and
- You cannot roll over amounts from a traditional IRA into a
Roth IRA during a year you file a separate return.
- You will become subject to the limit on the child tax
credit, itemized deductions, and the phaseout of the deduction for
personal exemptions at income levels that are half of those for a
joint return.
- Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of
$3,000 on a joint return).
Joint return after separate returns.
If either you or your spouse files a separate return, you can
change to a joint return any time within 3 years from the due date
(not including extensions) of the separate returns. This applies even
if either of you filed as head of household. Use Form 1040X.
Separate returns after joint return.
After the due date of your return, you and your spouse cannot
file separate returns if you previously filed a joint return.
Exception.
A personal representative for a decedent can change from a joint
return elected by the surviving spouse to a separate return for the
decedent. The personal representative has one year from the due date
of the joint return to make the change.
Head of Household
You may be eligible to file as head of household if you meet the
requirements discussed later.
Filing as head of household has the following advantages.
- You can claim the standard deduction even if your spouse
files a separate return and itemizes deductions.
- Your standard deduction is higher than is allowed on a
single or married filing separate return.
- Your tax rate may be lower than it is on a single or married
filing separate return.
- You may be able to claim certain credits (such as child care
credit and earned income credit) you cannot claim on a married filing
separate return.
- You will become subject to the limit on itemized deductions
and the phaseout of the deduction for personal exemptions at income
levels that are higher than the levels for a single or a married
filing separate return.
Requirements.
You can file as head of household only if you were unmarried or
considered unmarried on the last day of the year. You also must have
paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the main
home for more than half the year (except for temporary absences, such
as for school) for you and any of the following qualifying persons.
- Certain unmarried children. This includes your
unmarried child, grandchild, stepchild, foster child, or adopted
child. A foster child must qualify as your dependent and must have
lived in your home for the entire year.
- Certain married children. This includes your
married child, grandchild, stepchild, foster child, or adopted child
for whom you can claim an exemption. This also includes your married
child, grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child for whom you could
claim an exemption except that:
- By your written declaration you allow the noncustodial
parent to claim the exemption, or
- The noncustodial parent provided at least $600 for the
support of the dependent and claims the exemption under a pre-1985
agreement.
- Other relatives. This includes any other relative
for whom you can claim an exemption. However, your parent for whom you
can claim an exemption does not have to live with you. (See
Father or mother, later.) For a list of persons who are
relatives for purposes of these requirements, see 1. Member of
Household or Relationship Test under Dependency Tests,
later.
Your married child or other relative will not qualify you as a
head of household if you claim an exemption for that person under a
multiple support agreement (discussed later).
Father or mother.
If your parent for whom you can claim an exemption does not live
with you, you can file as head of household if you paid more than half
the cost of keeping up a home that was your parent's main home for the
entire year. This includes paying more than half the cost
of keeping your parent in a rest home or home for the elderly.
Considered unmarried.
Even if you are married, you will be considered unmarried on the
last day of the year if you meet all of the following
tests.
- You file a separate return.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for
the tax year.
- Your spouse did not live in your home during the last 6
months of the tax year.
- Your home was, for more than half the year, the main home of
your child, stepchild, adopted child, or for the entire year, the main
home for your foster child. You generally must be able to claim an
exemption for your child. However, you can still meet this test if you
cannot claim an exemption for your child only because:
- By your written declaration you allow the noncustodial
parent to claim the exemption, or
- The noncustodial parent provided at least $600 for the
support of the child and claims the exemption under a pre-1985
agreement.
Nonresident alien spouse.
If your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the tax
year, and you have not chosen to treat your spouse as a resident
alien, you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes.
However, your spouse is not a qualifying person for head of household
purposes. You must have paid most of the cost of keeping up a home
that was the main home for most of the year for you and a qualifying
person (other than your spouse) and meet the other requirements to
file as head of household.
Keeping up a home.
You are keeping up a home only if you pay more than half the cost
of its upkeep. This includes rent, mortgage interest, taxes, insurance
on the home, repairs, utilities, and food eaten in the home. This does
not include the cost of clothing, education, medical treatment, or
transportation for any member of the household.
More information.
For more information on filing as head of household, get
Publication 501.
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