Filing status: which one is yours

It's decided on the last day of the year

• If you were married on December 31, the IRS treats you as married for the whole year, even if you didn't live with your spouse.
• If your divorce became final by that date, or you're legally separated under a court decree of divorce or separate maintenance, you're considered unmarried for the whole year. If you just live apart, or the divorce isn't final yet, you're still married for the IRS.
• If your spouse died during the year, you're considered married that year and can file jointly with your deceased spouse, unless you remarried before year-end.
• A marriage performed in another country counts if at least one U.S. state or territory would recognize it.

The five statuses and their standard deduction

If you're 65 or older, or blind, the deduction goes up: $2,000 for each condition if you're single or head of household, and $1,600 if married or a qualifying surviving spouse, for 2025 ($2,050 and $1,650 for 2026). On top of that, from 2025 through 2028 there's a new deduction of up to $6,000 for people 65 and older, with an income limit; it requires a Social Security number valid for employment and, if you're married, filing jointly.

Single

It's for people who aren't married on December 31 (never married, divorced or legally separated under a court decree, or widowed before that year without remarrying) and don't qualify for another status. If you support a child, check whether head of household applies, since it's usually better.

Married: jointly or separately

Filing jointly usually means less tax. You both sign and you're both responsible for any tax owed. Filing separately usually costs more:

• You can't claim the EITC, except under the rule for separated spouses with a qualifying child.
• You can't claim the education credits or the student loan interest deduction, and in most cases not the child and dependent care credit either.
• You can't use the new tips, overtime or senior deductions.
• If your spouse itemizes deductions, you must itemize too.

If you filed separately, you can generally switch to a joint return within 3 years from the original due date of the separate return (not counting extensions). Not the other way around: after the due date, you can't go from a joint return to separate ones.

Head of household

It gives a higher deduction and better brackets than single. You must meet all three conditions:

• Be unmarried (or "considered unmarried") on the last day of the year.
• Pay more than half the cost of keeping up your home: rent or mortgage interest, property taxes, home insurance, repairs, utilities and food eaten at home. Clothing, education, medical costs, vacations, life insurance and transportation don't count.
• Have a qualifying person, such as your dependent child, live with you for more than half the year. The exception is a dependent parent: they don't have to live with you if you pay more than half the cost of keeping up their main home for the entire year.

If you're married, you're "considered unmarried" only if you file separately, paid more than half the cost of the home, your spouse didn't live in your home during the last 6 months of the year, and your home was the main home of your child, stepchild or foster child for more than half the year. You must also be able to claim that child as a dependent (or be unable to only because the other parent claims the child under the rules for divorced or separated parents). If your spouse lived with you during that time, you can't file as head of household. And only one parent can use the same child for this status.

Qualifying surviving spouse

If your spouse died, you can file jointly for the year of death. For the next two years you can use this status, which gives you the married-filing-jointly deduction and brackets, if you didn't remarry, could have filed jointly with your spouse for the year of death, have a dependent child or stepchild (not a foster child) who lived with you all year, and paid more than half the cost of the home. For 2025 returns, it applies if your spouse died in 2023 or 2024.

If your spouse is a nonresident alien

Here "nonresident" is a tax term (set by IRS tests such as the substantial presence test), not an immigration one. Generally, a couple can't file jointly if either spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year. The options are:

• If you're a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the year, you can choose to treat your spouse as a resident and file jointly. You both sign a statement attached to the joint return for the first year, and you both must report worldwide income for that year and later years while the choice stays in effect. Your spouse needs an SSN or ITIN (they can apply for the ITIN by attaching Form W-7 to the return). This choice applies only for federal income tax purposes.
• File as married filing separately. If your spouse doesn't have and isn't required to have an SSN or ITIN, you write "NRA" where their number goes.
• File as head of household, if you don't make the choice above, have another qualifying person (your spouse doesn't count as one) and pay more than half the cost of the home.

This affects your credits too: with an ITIN spouse, filing jointly can keep the Child Tax Credit if one of you has a Social Security number valid for employment, the other has an SSN or ITIN, and the child has a Social Security number valid for employment. The EITC, however, requires valid Social Security numbers for both spouses.

IRS tool

The IRS "What is my filing status?" tool asks about your situation and tells you which status applies in about 5 minutes. It's for people who (and whose spouses, if married) were U.S. citizens or residents for the whole year.