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Filing Status: Married or Single, Qualifying Widow(er) or Head of Household?, Study notes of Family Sociology

Guidelines for determining the correct filing status for tax purposes based on marital status, household costs, and dependents. It covers filing statuses for married filing jointly or separately, qualifying widow(er), single, and head of household. It also includes rules for children, parents, and other relatives.

What you will learn

  • What are the qualifications for filing as a Qualifying Widow(er)?
  • What are the rules for claiming dependents for tax filing purposes?
  • What are the different filing statuses for married couples?

Typology: Study notes

2021/2022

Uploaded on 09/12/2022

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edmond 🇺🇸

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Choosing the Correct Filing Status
Were you married on
the last day of the year?1
Start Here
Did your spouse die
during the year?
Married Filing Jointly or
Married Filing Separately
Did you and your
spouse live apart
during the last 6
months of the year?
NO
YES
YES
NO
Did you pay more then
half of the household
costs of keeping up your
home lived in for more
than half of the year by
your3:
Qualifying
Child4
Married Child5
Parent6
Other relative7
Do all of the following
apply?
You file a separate
return from your
spouse
You pay more than
half of the costs of
keeping up your
home occupied more
than half the year by
your child, stepchild,
or foster child whom
you claim as a
dependent8
Qualifying Widow(er)
Single
Head of Household
NO
NO
NO
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
pf2

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Choosing the Correct Filing Status

Were you married on the last day of the year?^1

Start Here

Did your spouse die during the year?

Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately

Did you and your spouse live apart during the last 6 months of the year?

NO

YES

YES NO

Did you pay more then half of the household costs of keeping up your home lived in for more than half of the year by your^3 : Qualifying Child^4 Married Child^5 Parent^6 Other relative^7

Do all of the following apply? You file a separate return from your spouse You pay more than half of the costs of keeping up your home occupied more than half the year by your child, stepchild, or foster child whom you claim as a dependent^8

Qualifying Widow(er)

Single

Head of Household

NO

NO

NO

NO YES

YES

YES

YES

Did your spouse die in 2006 or 2007 and do you have a dependent child?^2

  1. Your filing status is single if, on the last day of the year you were legally separated from your

spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree and do not qualify for another filing

status.

  1. If you paid over half of the household costs for your child, you can file as Qualifying Widow(er)

for 2 years after the death of your spouse. Your child or stepchild (foster child is not included)

must be your dependent and that child must have lived with you all year. You must have been

entitled to file Married Filing Jointly (even if you didn’t) in the year of spouse’s death. If you

meet the qualifications for Qualifying Widow(er) and for Head of Household you must use

Qualifying Widow(er) because Qualifying Widow(er) is more beneficial.

  1. See Publication 17, Filing Status , for rules applying to birth, death, or temporary absence during

the year. Military deployment/TDY is a temporary absence and he or she is considered to have lived in your home.

  1. See the Exemptions page for a definition of a qualifying child.
  2. A married child includes grandchild, stepchild, or adopted child, but the child is not a qualifying

person unless you can claim an exemption for the child. If you could claim an exemption for the

child, except that the child’s other parents claims the exemption under the special rules for a

noncustodial parent, then the child is a qualifying person.

  1. A parent does not have to live with you if you paid more than half the cost of keeping up his or

her main home for the entire year, but you must be able to claim an exemption for the parent.

  1. Other relatives include grandparent, brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half brother, half

sister, stepmother, stepfather, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-

in-law, daughter-in-law and, if related by blood, uncle, aunt, nephew, or niece. You must be

able to claim an exemption for any of these individuals.

  1. Or child’s other parent claims him or her under rules for children of divorced or separated

parents.