You use your filing status in determining your filing requirements,
standard deduction (discussed later), and correct tax. You figure your
correct tax by using the Tax Rate Schedule or the column in the Tax
Table that applies to your filing status.
You also use your filing status in determining whether you are
eligible to claim certain other deductions and credits.
There are five filing statuses:
- Single,
- Married Filing Jointly,
- Married Filing Separately,
- Head of Household, and
- 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.
Marital Status
In general, your filing status depends on whether you are
considered unmarried or married. A marriage means only a legal union
between a man and a woman as husband and wife.
Unmarried persons.
You are considered unmarried for the whole year if, on the last day
of your tax year, you are unmarried or legally separated from your
spouse under a divorce or a separate maintenance decree.
State law governs whether you are married or legally separated
under a divorce or separate maintenance decree.
Divorced persons.
If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the
year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year.
Divorce and remarriage.
If you obtain a divorce in one year for the sole purpose of filing
tax returns as unmarried individuals, and at the time of divorce you
intended to and did remarry each other in the next tax year, you and
your spouse must file as married individuals.
Annulled marriages.
If you obtain a court decree of annulment, which holds that no
valid marriage ever existed, you are considered unmarried even if you
filed joint returns for earlier years. You must file amended returns
(Form 1040X) claiming single or head of household status for all tax
years affected by the annulment that are not closed by the statute of
limitations for filing a tax return. The statute of limitations
generally does not expire until 3 years after your original return was
filed.
Head of household or qualifying widow(er) with dependent
child.
If you are considered unmarried, you may be able to file as a head
of household or as a qualifying widow(er) with a dependent child. See
Head of Household and Qualifying Widow(er) With
Dependent Child to see if you qualify.
Married persons.
If you are considered married for the whole year, you and your
spouse can file a joint return, or you can file separate returns.
Considered married.
You are considered married for the whole year if on the last day of
your tax year you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.
- You are married and living together as husband and
wife.
- 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.
- You are married and living apart, but not legally separated
under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.
- You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree
of divorce. For purposes of filing a joint return, you are not
considered divorced.
Spouse died during the year.
If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for
the whole year for filing status purposes.
If you did not remarry before the end of the tax year, you can file
a joint return for yourself and your deceased spouse. For the next 2
years, you may be entitled to the special benefits described later
under Qualifying Widow(er) With Dependent Child.
If you remarried before the end of the tax year, you can file a
joint return with your new spouse. Your deceased spouse's filing
status is married filing separately for that year.
Married persons living apart.
If you live apart from your spouse and meet certain tests, you may
be considered unmarried. If this applies to you, you can
file as head of household even though you are not divorced or legally
separated. If you qualify to file as head of household instead of as
married filing separately, your standard deduction will be higher.
Also, your tax may be lower, and you may be able to claim the earned
income credit. See Head of Household, later.
Single
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.
Your filing status may be single if you were widowed before January
1, 2000, and did not remarry in 2000. However, you might be able to
use another filing status that will give you a lower tax. See
Head of Household and Qualifying Widow(er) With
Dependent Child, later, to see if you qualify.
How to file.
You can file Form 1040EZ (if you have no dependents, are under 65
and not blind, and meet other requirements), Form 1040A, or Form 1040.
If you file Form 1040A or Form 1040, show your filing status as single
by checking the box on line 1. Use the Single column of the
Tax Table, or Schedule X of the Tax Rate Schedules, to
figure your tax.
Married Filing Jointly
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.
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. You can file a joint return even if one of you
had no income or deductions.
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.
How to file.
If you file as married filing jointly, you can use Form 1040 or
Form 1040A. If you have no dependents, are under 65 and not blind, and
meet other requirements, you can file Form 1040EZ. If you file Form
1040 or Form 1040A, show this filing status by checking the box on
line 2. Use the Married filing jointly column of the Tax
Table, or Schedule Y-1 of the Tax Rate Schedules, to
figure your tax.
Spouse died during the year.
If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for
the whole year and can choose married filing jointly as your filing
status. See Spouse died during the year, earlier.
Divorced persons.
If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the
year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year and you cannot
choose married filing jointly as your filing status.
Filing a Joint Return
Both you and your spouse must include all of your income,
exemptions, and deductions on your joint return.
Accounting period.
Both of you must use the same accounting period, but you can use
different accounting methods.
Joint responsibility.
Both of you may be held responsible, jointly and individually, for
the tax and any interest or penalty due on your joint return. One
spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due even if all the
income was earned by the other spouse.
Divorced taxpayer.
You may be held jointly and individually responsible for any tax,
interest, and penalties due on a joint return filed before your
divorce. This responsibility may apply 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 responsibility.
In some cases, one spouse may be relieved of joint liability for
tax, interest, and penalties on a joint return for items of the other
spouse which were incorrectly reported on the joint return. You can
ask for relief no matter how small the liability.
There are three types of relief available.
- Innocent spouse relief, which applies to all joint
filers.
- Separation of liability, which applies to joint filers who
are divorced, widowed, legally separated, or who have not lived
together for the past 12 months.
- Equitable relief, which applies to all joint filers who do
not qualify for innocent spouse relief or separation of liability and
to married couples filing separate returns in community property
states.
You must file Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief
(And Separation of Liability and Equitable Relief), to request
any of these kinds of relief. Publication 971,
Innocent Spouse
Relief, explains these kinds of relief and who may qualify for
them.
Signing a joint return.
For a return to be considered a joint return, both husband and wife
must generally sign the return.
Spouse died before signing.
If your spouse died before signing the return, the executor or
administrator must sign the return for your spouse. If neither you nor
anyone else has yet been appointed as executor or administrator, you
can sign the return for your spouse and write "Filing as surviving
spouse" in the area where you sign the return.
Spouse away from home.
If your spouse is away from home, you should prepare the return,
sign it, and send it to your spouse to sign so that it can be filed on
time.
Injury or disease prevents signing.
If your spouse cannot sign because of injury or disease and tells
you to sign, you can sign your spouse's name in the proper space on
the return followed by the words "By (your name), Husband (or Wife)."
Be sure to also sign in the space provided for your signature. Attach
a dated statement, signed by you, to the return. The statement should
include the form number of the return you are filing, the tax year,
the reason your spouse cannot sign, and that your spouse has agreed to
your signing for him or her.
Signing as guardian of spouse.
If you are the guardian of your spouse who is mentally incompetent,
you can sign the return for your spouse as guardian.
Spouse in combat zone.
If your spouse is unable to sign the return because he or she is
serving in a combat zone, such as the Persian Gulf Area or Yugoslavia,
or a qualified hazardous duty area (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,
and Macedonia), and you do not have a power of attorney or other
statement, you can sign for your spouse. Attach a signed statement to
your return that explains that your spouse is serving in a combat
zone. For more information on special tax rules for persons who are
serving in a combat zone, get Publication 3,
Armed Forces' Tax
Guide.
Other reasons spouse cannot sign.
If your spouse cannot sign the joint return for any other reason,
you can sign for your spouse only if you are given a valid power of
attorney (a legal document giving you permission to act for your
spouse). Attach the power of attorney (or a copy of it) to your tax
return. You can use Form 2848.
Nonresident alien or dual-status alien.
A joint return generally cannot be filed if either spouse is a
nonresident alien at any time during the tax year. However, if one
spouse was a nonresident alien or dual-status alien who was married to
a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the year, the spouses can
choose to file a joint return. If you do file a joint return, you and
your spouse are both treated as U.S. residents for the entire tax
year. See chapter 1 of Publication 519.
Married Filing Separately
You can choose married filing separately as your filing
status if you are married. This method may benefit you if you want to
be responsible only for your own tax or if this method results in less
tax than a joint return. If you and your spouse do not agree to file a
joint return, you may have to use this filing status.
If you live apart from your spouse and meet certain tests, you may
be considered unmarried and may be able to file as 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 method 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 because the tax rate
is higher for married persons filing separately.
How to file.
If you file a separate return, you generally report only your own
income, exemptions, credits, and deductions on your individual return.
You can claim an exemption for your spouse if your spouse had no gross
income and was not the dependent of another person. However, if your
spouse had any gross income or was the dependent of someone else, you
cannot claim an exemption for him or her on your separate return.
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 must also write your spouse's social security number
and full name in the spaces provided. Use the Married filing
separately column of the Tax Table or Schedule Y-2
of the Tax Rate Schedules to figure your tax.
Special Rules
Special rules apply if your filing status is married filing
separately.
Community property states.
If you live in Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New
Mexico, Texas, Washington, or Wisconsin and file separately, your
income may be considered separate income or community income for
income tax purposes. See Publication 555,
Community Property.
Deductions, credits, and certain income.
If your filing status is married filing separately:
- You should itemize deductions if your spouse itemizes
deductions, because you cannot claim the standard deduction.
- You cannot deduct interest paid on a qualified student
loan.
- You cannot take the credit for child and dependent care
expenses in most instances, 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).
- You cannot take the earned income credit.
- You cannot exclude any interest income from qualified U.S.
savings bonds that you used for higher education expenses.
- You cannot take the credit for the elderly or the disabled
unless you lived apart from your spouse for the entire year.
- You cannot take the education credits (the Hope credit and
the lifetime learning credit).
- You cannot take the exclusion or credit for adoption
expenses in most instances.
- You will become subject to the limit on the child tax
credit, the limit on itemized deductions, and the phaseout of the
deduction for personal exemptions at income levels that are half of
those for a joint return.
- You may have to include in income more of your social
security benefits (or any equivalent railroad retirement benefits)
than you would on a joint return. For information on social security
and railroad retirement benefits, see Publication 915,
Social
Security and Equivalent Railroad Retirement Benefits.
- You cannot roll over amounts from a traditional IRA into a
Roth IRA during the year, unless you did not live with your spouse at
any time during the year.
- Your capital loss deduction limit is $1,500 (instead of
$3,000 if you filed a joint return).
Individual retirement arrangements (IRAs).
You may not be able to deduct all or part of your contributions to
a traditional IRA if you or your spouse were covered by an employee
retirement plan at work during the year. Your deduction is reduced or
eliminated if your income is more than a certain amount. This amount
is much lower for married individuals who file separately and lived
together at any time during the year. For more information, see
How Much Can I Deduct? in Publication 590,
Individual
Retirement Arrangements (IRAs) (Including Roth IRAs and Education
IRAs).
Rental activity losses.
If you actively participated in a passive rental real estate
activity that produces a loss, you generally can deduct the loss from
your nonpassive income up to $25,000. This is called a special
allowance. However, married persons filing separate returns who lived
together at any time during the year cannot claim this special
allowance. Married persons filing separate returns who lived apart at
all times during the year are each allowed a $12,500 maximum special
allowance for losses from passive real estate activities. See
Rental Activities in Publication 925,
Passive Activity
and At-Risk Rules.
Joint Return After
Separate Returns
You can change your filing status by filing an amended return using
Form 1040X.
If you or your spouse (or each 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.
Separate Returns
After Joint Return
Once you file a joint return, you cannot choose to file separate
returns for that year after the due date of the 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 1 year from the due date of
the return to make the change. See Publication 559
for more
information on filing income tax returns for a decedent.
Head of Household
You may be able to file as head of household if you meet all of the
following requirements.
- You are unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of
the year.
- You paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for
the year.
- A qualifying person must live with you in the home for more
than half the year (except for temporary absences, such as school).
However, your dependent parent does not have to live with you. See
Special rule for parent, later, under Qualifying
Person. A foster child must live with you all year.
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.
How to file.
If you file as head of household, you can use either Form 1040A or
Form 1040. Indicate your choice of this filing status by checking the
box on line 4 of either form. Use the Head of a household
column of the Tax Table or Schedule Z of the Tax Rate
Schedules, to figure your tax.
Considered Unmarried
You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax 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 spouse is considered to live in your home
even if he or she is temporarily absent due to special circumstances.
See Temporary absences, later.
- Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild or
adopted child for more than half the year or was the main home of your
foster child for the entire year. (See Home of qualifying person,
later, for rules applying to a child's birth, death, or
temporary absence during the year.)
- You must be able to claim an exemption for the child.
However, you can still meet this test if you cannot claim the
exemption only because of one of the three situations described under
Exception on page 14. The general rules to claim an
exemption for a dependent are explained later under Exemptions
for Dependents.
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.
Nonresident alien spouse.
You are considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your
spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you do
not choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien.
However, your spouse is not a qualifying person for head of household
purposes. You must have another qualifying person and meet the other
tests to be eligible to file as a head of household.
Earned income credit.
Even if you are considered unmarried for head of household purposes
because you are married to a nonresident alien, you are still
considered married for purposes of the earned income credit (unless
you meet the five tests listed earlier). You are not entitled to the
credit unless you file a joint return with your spouse and meet other
qualifications. See Publication 596
for more information.
Choice to treat spouse as resident.
You are considered married if you choose to treat your spouse as a
resident alien. See chapter 1 of Publication 519.
Keeping Up a Home
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 Cost of Keeping Up a Home worksheet, later.
Costs you include.
Include in the cost of upkeep expenses such as rent, mortgage
interest, real estate taxes, insurance on the home, repairs,
utilities, and food eaten in the home.
Costs you do not include.
Do not include in the cost of upkeep expenses such as clothing,
education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance, or
transportation. Also, do not include the rental value of a home you
own or the value of your services or those of a member of your
household.
Cost of Keeping Up a Home
| Amount |
| You |
Total |
| Paid |
Cost |
| Property taxes |
$ |
$ |
| Mortgage interest expense |
|
|
| Rent |
|
|
| Utility charges |
|
|
| Upkeep and repairs |
|
|
| Property insurance |
|
|
| Food consumed
on the premises |
|
|
| 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. |
Qualifying Person
See Table 4 to see who is a qualifying person.
Any person not described in Table 4 is not a qualifying
person.
Table 4. Qualifying Person
Home of qualifying person.
Generally, the qualifying person must live with you for more than
half of the year.
Special rule for parent.
You may be eligible to file as head of household even if the parent
for whom you can claim an exemption does not live with you. You must
pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the main
home for the entire year for your father or mother. You are
keeping up a main home for your father or mother if you pay more than
half the cost of keeping your parent in a rest home or home for the
elderly.
Death or birth.
You may be eligible to file as head of household if the individual
who qualifies you for this filing status is born or dies during the
year. You must have provided more than half of the cost of keeping up
a home that was the individual's main home for more than half of the
year, or, if less, the period during which the individual lived.
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 towards your mother's support. Your mother had
no income. Because you paid more than half of 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.
Temporary absences.
You and your qualifying person are considered to live together even
if one or both of you are temporarily absent from your home due to
special circumstances such as illness, education, business, vacation,
and military service. It must be reasonable to assume that the absent
person will return to the home after the temporary absence. You must
continue to keep up the home during the absence.
Qualifying Widow(er)
With Dependent Child
If your spouse died in 2000, you can use married filing jointly as
your filing status for 2000 if you would 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 of
death of your spouse. For example, if your spouse died in 1999 and you
have not remarried, you may be able to use this filing status for 2000
and 2001. The rules for using this filing status are explained in
detail here.
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.
How to file.
If you file as a qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, you can
use either Form 1040A or Form 1040. Indicate your filing status by
checking the box on line 5 of either form. Write the year your spouse
died in the space provided on line 5. Use the Married filing
jointly column of the Tax Table or Schedule Y-1
of the Tax Rate Schedules to figure your tax.
Eligibility rules.
You are eligible to file your 2000 return as a qualifying widow(er)
with dependent child if you meet all of the following tests.
- 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.
- You did not remarry before the end of 2000.
- You have a child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child
for whom you can claim an exemption.
- You paid more than half of the cost of keeping up a home
that is the main home for you and that child for the entire year,
except for temporary absences. See Temporary absences and
Keeping Up a Home, discussed earlier, under Head of
Household.
As mentioned earlier, this filing status is only available for 2
years following the year of death of your spouse.
Example.
John Reed's wife died in 1998. John has not remarried. He has
continued during 1999 and 2000 to keep up a home for himself and his
child for whom he can claim an exemption. For 1998 he was entitled to
file a joint return for himself and his deceased wife. For 1999 and
2000 he can file as a qualifying widower with a dependent child. After
2000 he can file as head of household if he qualifies.
Death or birth.
You may be eligible to file as a qualifying widow(er) with
dependent child if the child who qualifies you for this filing status
is born or dies during the year. You must have provided more than half
of the cost of keeping up a home that was the child's main home during
the entire part of the year he or she was alive.
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