I’m Not Sure What Is My Filing Status
Photo by LiLi
If you are going to prepare your taxes yourself, there are several things you need to know when you get started. You have to determine your filing status first because it will have a direct impact on how much you get back on your return, then decide which deduction applies to you.
There are five filing statuses and criteria to choose from:
Single: you are considered single if you have never been married; are unmarried on the last day of the year (December 31st); and don’t qualify for any other filing status.
Married filing jointly: you may want to choose this option if you are married the entire year (December 31st). If your spouse died during the tax year and you did not remarry, you are considered married for the whole year. This option, and qualifying surviving spouse will give you the highest standard deduction.
Head of household: this choice is the better option than single if you are unmarried; have a qualifying child or person living with you for more than half the year; you pay more than half of the cost for upkeep of your home.
Qualifying surviving spouse: if you have a spouse that died during the tax year, you may use married filing jointly if you qualify for it and you remained unmarried for the year your spouse died, but it will be the last time you can use married filing jointly. You may be eligible to use filing status qualifying surviving spouse for 2 years after the year your spouse died. This status, and married filing jointly, will give you the highest standard deduction.
For example, if your spouse died in 2024 (and you did not remarry in 2024), you can elect to use qualifying surviving spouse for 2025 and 2026.
Example: If you have a qualifying child, and spouse died in 2024, (and you remained unmarried) you can choose to file as MFJ for 2025, OR for 2025 and 2026 you file using qualifying surviving spouse. If you continue to have qualifying persons living with you, you can then file using head of household in 2027.
Married filing separately: this may be an option if you are separated from your spouse, but still married. If you and your spouse can not agree to filing jointly, you must use this filing status, not single. If you meet all the requirements for filing head of household, your standard deduction will be higher versus married filing separately.
Dependents are qualifying child(ren) or qualifying relative(s)
To determine who is a qualifying child, you have to meet five requirements:
Must be related to you such as, son, daughter, adopted child, grandchild, stepchild, foster child, brother, sister, half-siblings, stepsiblings, or descendant of them such as niece or nephew, who is single and lived with you for more than half the year, would be your qualifying child.
Child is under 19 by December 31st, younger than you and spouse; if child is a student, they must be fulltime and in school for five months of calendar year, and under 24 years old by December 31st; a child of any age that is permanently and totally disabled.
The child lived with you for more than half the year.
You provided more than half of the child’s support, although the child did provide some of their own support.
Child cannot file a joint return, OR is filing only to get refund of estimated tax paid or to get refund of federal income tax withheld (see Box 2 of W-2 form).
To determine who is a qualifying relative, you have to meet four requirements:
* Your qualifying child CAN NOT be your qualifying relative. (if it is established that your child qualifies as qualifying child, they cannot also be your qualifying relative).
* Qualifying relative are blood related (including adoptive child) as the ones described for qualifying child; they are also parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle, stepparents, stepsiblings, in-laws; OR a person who lived with you the entire year as a member of your household.
Your mother or father that can be claimed as a dependent parent because you pay more than half of cost for entire year for upkeep of parent(s) main home, but they do not have to live with you.
* A person’s gross income for the year must be less $5,050 (this amount is subject to change yearly).
* You provided more than half of the person’s support for the year.
If you meet the requirements to qualify for more than one filing status, it is to your advantage to use the status that warrants the highest deductions. If you are unsure which status applies to you, use the status that gives you the option with the lowest tax liability, or meet with a tax professional if you need assistance.
Information in this blog article is intended for educational purposes to provide general tax information; it does not provide you with tax advice or law. We do not provide specific counsel to you on deductions, business income or expenses. It is recommended to seek your tax professional or consultant on your specific tax and/or financial matters.
Information derived from Your Federal Income Tax (2024).