Registration Information - Filing Status

Why is Your Filing  Status Important?
Your filing status is used to determine your filing requirements, standard deduction, eligibility for certain credits, and your correct tax. 

Select your filing status then complete the required information.

Single
A single filer is a taxpayer that is unmarried, divorced, a registered domestic partner, or legally separated according to state law as of the last day of the tax year.

Married Filing Joint
​An individual that is married by the end of the tax year can file his or her tax returns jointly with his or her spouse. When filing under married filing jointly status, couples can record their respective incomes, exemptions, and deductions on the same tax return. A joint tax return has the highest standard deduction.

​Married filing jointly is best even if only one spouse has income. 

Married Filing Separate
Married filing separate is best if both spouses work and the income and itemized deductions are large and very unequal, it may be more advantageous to file separately.

Ask your preparer to analyze your return to see the difference.

Head of Household
You can file as HOH if you were unmarried and took care of a dependent, it doesn’t need to be your child to qualify for this status, qualifying relatives such as parents could let you file HOH as well when you claim them as dependents. You need to have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home.

Example 1: You divorce your spouse and are taking care of children, you would file as HOH.

Example 2: You are unmarried and taking care of your child you would file HOH.

Example 3: You are legally married to your spouse on DEC 31,2023, but you haven’t lived together in the last 6 months of 2023, and you take care of a dependent. You would file as HOH.

Qualifying Widow(er)  With a
​Dependent  Child
​If your spouse died in 2021, you can still file as Married Filing Jointly when you file your taxes but only for 2021. When you are filing for 2022 and 2023, and are taking care of at least one dependent child, and have not remarried, you will file as Qualifying Widow.

​This status only lasts for 2 years after the year of death so when it is April 2025 and you are filing your taxes for 2024, you can no longer use this status.

If in 2024, you are still taking care of the dependent on your own, you will file as Head of Household (HOH). These are just tips to maximize your tax refund , you can still file as Single.

Not Sure?
If you are not sure or if more than one filing status applies to you, this IRS interview will choose the one that will result in the lowest amount of tax. It only takes 5 minutes to complete.