IRS Publication 501 — Dependents, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

• Married filing jointly.

• Married filing separately.

• Head of household.

• Qualifying surviving spouse.

If more than one filing status applies to you, choose the one that will give you the lowest tax. Marital Status In general, your filing status depends on whether you are considered unmarried or married. Unmarried persons. You are considered unmarried for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you are either:

• Unmarried, or

• Legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree.

State law governs whether you are married or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree.

Definition of marriage. A marriage of two individuals is recognized for federal tax purposes if the marriage is recognized by the state or territory of the United States in which the marriage is entered into, regardless of legal residence. Two individuals who enter into a relationship that is denominated as marriage under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction or an American Indian tribe are recognized as married for federal tax purposes if the relationship would be recognized as marriage under the laws of at least one state or territory of the United States, regardless of legal residence. Individuals who have entered into a registered domestic partnership, civil union, or other similar relationship that isn’t denominated as a marriage under the law of the state or territory of the United States where such relationship was entered into aren’t lawfully married for federal tax purposes, regardless of legal residence. See Considered married, later. Divorced persons. If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year.

Divorce and remarriage. If you obtain a divorce for the sole purpose of filing tax returns as unmarried individuals, and at the time of divorce you intend to and do, in fact, remarry each other in the next tax year, you and your spouse must file as married individuals in both years.

Annulled marriages. If you obtain a court decree of annulment, which holds that no valid marriage ever existed, you are considered unmarried even if you filed joint returns for earlier years. File amended returns (Form(s) 1040 -X) claiming single or head of household status for all tax years that are affected by the annulment and not closed by the statute of limitations for filing a tax return. Generally, for a credit or refund, you must file Form(s) 1040 -Xwithin 3 years (including extensions) after the date you filed your original return or within 2 years after the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. If you filed your original tax return early (for example, March 1), your return is considered filed on the due date (generally April 15). However, if you had an extension to file (for example, until October 15) but you filed earlier and we received it on July 1, your return is considered filed on July 1.

Head of household or qualifying surviving spouse. If you are considered unmarried, you may be able to file as head of household or as a qualifying surviving spouse. See Head of Household and Qualifying Surviving Spouse , later, to see if you qualify.

Married persons. If you are considered married, you and your spouse can file a joint return or separate returns.

Considered married. You are considered married for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.

1. You are married and living together.

2. You are living together in a common law marriage recognized in the state where you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began.

3. You are married and living apart but not legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance.

4. You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce.

Spouse died during the year. If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year for filing status purposes.

If you didn’t remarry before the end of the tax year, you can file a joint return for yourself and your deceased spouse. For the next 2 years, you may be entitled to the special benefits described later under Qualifying Surviving Spouse.

If you remarried before the end of the tax year, you can file a joint return with your new spouse. Your deceased spouse’s filing status is married filing separately for that year.

Married persons living apart. If you live apart from your spouse and meet certain tests, you may be able to file as head of household even if you aren’t divorced or legally separated. If you qualify to file as head of household instead of as married filing separately, your standard deduction will be higher and your tax may be lower. See Head of Household, later.

Single Your filing status is single if you are considered unmarried and you don’t qualify for another filing status. T o determine your marital status, see Marital Status, earlier.

Spouse died before January 1, 2025. Your filing status may be single if your spouse died before January 1, 2025, and you didn’t remarry before the end of 2025. You may, however, be able to use another filing status that will give you a lower tax. See Head of Household and Qualifying Surviving Spouse , later, to see if you qualify.

On Form 1040 or 1040 -SR, show your filing status as single by checking the “Single” box on the Filing Status line near the top of the form. Use the Single column of the Tax Table, or Section A of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax. Married Filing Jointly You can choose married filing jointly as your filing status if you are considered married and both you and your spouse agree to file a joint return. On a joint return, you and your spouse report your combined income and deduct your combined allowable expenses. You can file a joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions.

If you and your spouse decide to file a joint return, your tax may be lower than your combined tax for the other filing statuses. Also, your standard deduction (if you don’t itemize deductions) may be higher, and you may qualify for tax benefits that don’t apply to other filing statuses. On Form 1040 or 1040 -SR, show your filing status as married filing jointly by checking the “Married filing jointly” box on the Filing Status line near the top of the form. Use the Married filing jointly column of the Tax Table, or Section Bof the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax.

If you and your spouse each have income, you may want to figure your tax both on a joint return and on separate returns (using the filing status of married filing separately). You can choose the method that gives the two of you the lower combined tax unless you are required to file separately. Spouse died. If your spouse died during the year, you are considered married for the whole year and can choose married filing jointly as your filing status. See Spouse died during the year under Married persons, earlier.

If your spouse died in 2026 before filing a 2025 return, you can choose married filing jointly as your filing status on your 2025 return. Divorced persons. If you are divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year, you are considered unmarried for the whole year and you can’t choose married filing jointly as your filing status. Filing a Joint Return Both you and your spouse must include all of your income and deductions on your joint return. Accounting period. Both of you must use the same accounting period, but you can use different accounting methods. Joint responsibility. Both of you may be held responsible, jointly and individually, for the tax and any interest or penalty due on your joint return. This means that if one spouse doesn’t pay the tax due, the other may have to. Or, if one spouse doesn’t report the correct tax, both spouses may be responsible for any additional taxes assessed by the IRS. One spouse may be held responsible for all the tax due even if all the income was earned by the other spouse.

TIP 6 Publication 501 (2025)