For federal income tax purposes, your marital status is determined under state law as of the last day of the calendar year. That matters when choosing your filing status.
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Your filing status is one of the first decisions you make on your federal income tax return, and it impacts your tax bill more than most people realize. It determines your tax brackets, your standard deduction, and which credits and deductions you can claim. In some cases, it also determines whether you’re required to file a return at all.
It’s easy to treat filing status as a quick checkbox and move on. But getting it wrong can affect the rest of your return. Here’s what you need to know to get it right.
The Five Federal Filing Statuses
You’ll find five filing statuses on a federal income tax return:
- Single
- Married Filing Jointly
- Married Filing Separately
- Head of Household
- Qualifying Surviving Spouse with Dependent Child
Marital Status: One Date Matters
For federal income tax purposes, your marital status is determined under state law as of the last day of the calendar year. It’s not more complicated than that. It doesn’t matter whether you got married on January 1 or December 30, and it doesn’t matter whether you separated in February or December.
If you are married on December 31, you are considered married for the entire tax year. If you are divorced or legally separated under the laws of your state on December 31, you are not married for that tax year.
Single: It’s Not Complicated
If you’re not married as of December 31, you can choose to file as single. For many people, this is straightforward. You’re unmarried, you file as single, and you move on.
Where taxpayers get into trouble is assuming that “single” describes your lifestyle rather than a legal status for tax purposes. Living alone doesn’t make you single. Being the sole wage earner doesn’t make you single. Even being separated doesn’t automatically make you single unless separation is legally recognized under your state’s laws (some states, like Pennsylvania and Texas, don’t have a formal “separation” status).
If you don’t meet the legal definition, filing as single isn’t an option—no matter how neatly it might seem to fit your personal situation.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for single taxpayers is $15,750.
Married Filing Jointly: The Default for Most Couples
If you are married at year-end, you’ll likely file as married filing jointly. That’s how most married couples file, because it usually results in the most favorable tax treatment. Joint filers benefit from wider tax brackets, a larger standard deduction, and credits and deductions that may be unavailable to married couples filing separately.
A joint return combines both spouses’ income, deductions, and credits on a single tax return. It also means joint responsibility for the tax. The IRS refers to this as “joint and several liability,” meaning each spouse is responsible for 100% of the tax shown on the return. A divorce won’t change that as far as the IRS is concerned (this is why it’s super important to include your tax advisor, such as a tax attorney, in divorce discussions).
Once you file a joint return, your ability to change your mind is limited. You generally cannot amend a joint return to file married filing separately, though you may be able to file a superseded return before the filing deadline. However, the opposite does work: married couples who file separately can amend a return to file jointly.
One quick note: If your spouse died during the tax year, the IRS generally still treats you as married for the entire year. So long as you don’t remarry before December 31, you can typically file a joint return with your deceased spouse, assuming you otherwise qualify.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for married couples filing jointly is $31,500.
Married Filing Separately: A Tax Election With Trade-Offs
Married filing separately is often misunderstood. It feels like it refers to your living situation or relationship. But really, it’s simply a tax election that allows married spouses to file two separate federal income tax returns instead of one joint return.
Choosing married filing separately does not depend on whether you live together, share expenses, or maintain joint accounts. It does, however, require coordination. If one spouse files as married filing separately, the other spouse must do the same. There’s no scenario that allows one spouse to file separately while the other files as single or married filing jointly.
Coordinating returns goes beyond choosing the same filing status. If one spouse itemizes deductions, the other must also itemize. That also means that if one spouse claims the standard deduction, the other must do the same. You don’t get to choose independently.
When it comes to tax breaks, filing as married filing separately is usually less advantageous than filing separately. Many tax benefits are reduced or eliminated entirely for separate filers, including the student loan interest deduction, education credits, and the earned income tax credit. Phaseouts for other deductions and credits often begin at much lower income levels.
That’s particularly important this year. You cannot claim the new temporary deductions for seniors, “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” if your status is married filing separately.
That said, there are situations where filing separately makes sense—often involving separate debts, significant medical expenses, or uneven income. It can also be useful when mulling student loan repayment plans, especially now that millions of taxpayers will be resuming payments or moving from the SAVE plan to another plan that’s going to require them to rethink what they pay. All that said, it’s rarely the tax-efficient default.
Another quirk of married filing separately is the filing threshold. For most taxpayers, the obligation to file a return doesn’t arise until gross income reaches a relatively high level. By contrast, married taxpayers filing separately may be required to file a return with as little as $5 in gross income.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for married individuals filing separately is $15,750.
Head of Household: More Than Just Not Married
Head of household is often thought of as a middle ground between single and married filing jointly, but it’s not available simply because you’re unmarried or supporting yourself. To qualify, you must generally be unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year, pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and have a qualifying person—often a dependent child—living with you for more than half the year.
For taxpayers who qualify, head-of-household status results in a higher standard deduction and more favorable tax brackets than filing as single. Because the rules are specific and fact-driven, pay close attention before checking the box.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for heads of household is $23,625.
Qualifying Surviving Spouse With Dependent Child: A Temporary Status
Qualifying surviving spouse with dependent child is a special filing status designed to ease the transition after the death of a spouse. The IRS also refers to this status as qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.
When your spouse dies, you can file a joint return with your deceased spouse in the year of death. If you don’t have a dependent child, you would then choose the most appropriate status in the following year.
If you have a dependent child, you can use a special status for the two tax years following the year of death, provided you meet the requirements. Those requirements include having a dependent child and paying more than half the cost of maintaining your home.
This status allows you to use the same tax brackets and standard deduction as married filing jointly, even though you are no longer filing a joint return.
For the 2025 tax year, the standard deduction for qualifying surviving spouses is $31,500.
Common Filing Status Mistakes to Avoid
While the rules feel straightforward, it can be easy to make a mistake. Don’t assume that living separately means you can file as single, even when you’re still legally married. And don’t automatically assume that married filing separately depends on your finances or living arrangements.
Taxpayers also frequently overlook head-of-household status, either by assuming they qualify when they don’t or by missing it entirely when they do. And surviving spouses sometimes move too quickly to single filing status, not realizing that qualifying surviving spouse status may still be available for a limited time.
Taking a few extra minutes to confirm your filing status before you file can save time, money, and frustration later on. As always, if you have questions, ask your tax professional for help.