There are five tax filing statuses in the U.S.: single, married filing jointly, head of household, qualifying surviving spouse and married filing separately.
The status you choose affects which tax forms you’ll need to fill out, your standard deduction and even which other tax deductions and credits you can claim.
Filing status | Who might use it |
|---|---|
Single | Unmarried people who don’t qualify for another filing status. |
Married filing jointly | Most married couples. |
Head of household | Unmarried people paying at least half the cost of housing and support for others. |
Qualifying surviving spouse (formerly known as qualifying widow or widower) | People who lost a spouse recently and are supporting a child at home. |
Married filing separately | Married high earners, people who think their spouses may be hiding income, or people whose spouses have tax liability issues. |
Single
Who uses it: Unmarried people who don’t qualify for another filing status (such as head of household, for example).
How it works:
- There are rules about being unmarried. If you’re legally divorced by the last day of the year, the IRS considers you unmarried for the whole year. If your marriage is annulled, the IRS also considers you unmarried even if you filed jointly in previous years.
- Don't be sneaky. The IRS can make you use the “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” tax filing status if you get a divorce just so you can file single and then remarry your ex in the next tax year. Translation: Don’t get divorced every New Year’s Eve for tax purposes and then get married the next day again — the IRS is onto that trick.
What it gets you:
Possibly lower taxes if you make a lot of money. That’s because, at the very highest tax brackets, the income levels that determine the tax brackets for married people filing jointly are less than double the income levels that determine the tax brackets for single people. It’s a phenomenon called “the marriage penalty,” and it means married couples end up in higher tax brackets faster than single people do.
For example, let’s say you and your partner are unmarried, and you each have $400,000 of taxable income. As single filers, you’ll each be in the 35% tax bracket. Now, let’s assume you and your partner are married and file jointly. You each still make $400,000. You might expect 35% to remain your highest tax rate, but that’s not the case anymore. If you’re married and filing jointly, some of your income — simply because it’s combined — will get taxed at 37%.
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Married filing jointly
Who uses it: Most married couples.
How it works:
- You file together. You report your combined income and deduct your combined allowable deductions and credits on the same forms. You can file a joint return even if one of you had no income or deductions.
- There are rules about divorce. If you were legally divorced by the last day of the year, the IRS considers you unmarried for the whole year. That means you can’t file jointly that year. If your spouse died during the tax year, however, the IRS considers you married for the whole year. You can file jointly that year, even if you don’t have kids in the house.
- You're both responsible. Note that when you file jointly, the IRS holds both of you responsible for the taxes and any interest or penalties due. This means you could be on the hook if your spouse doesn’t send the check or flubs the math.
What it gets you:
Probably a lower tax bill than if you file separately; your standard deduction — if you don’t itemize — could be higher, and you can take deductions and credits that generally aren’t available if you file separately.
» MORE: When and how to file jointly
Head of household
Who can use it: This filing status is typically used by unmarried people who paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year and provided most or all of the support for at least one other person for more than half the year.
How it works:
- It's not arbitrary. You can’t use this tax filing status if you’re simply the one who makes the most money in your family. In the eyes of the IRS, this tax filing status applies only to unmarried people who must support others.
- There are rules about being unmarried. The IRS considers you unmarried if you’re not legally married. But you can also be considered unmarried for this purpose if your spouse didn’t live in your home for the last six months of the tax year (temporary absences don’t count), you paid more than half the cost of keeping up the house, and that house was your dependent's main home. The cost of keeping up a home includes property taxes, mortgage interest or rent, utilities, repairs and maintenance, property insurance, food and other household expenses.
- There are rules about dependents. To use this filing status, there must also be a “qualifying person” involved. In general, that can be a person under 19, or under 24 if the person is a student, who lives in your house for more than half the year. It can also be a parent, and in that case, the parent doesn’t have to live with you — you just have to prove you provide at least half their support. In some situations, your siblings and in-laws also count if you provide at least half their support. Be sure to read IRS Publication 501 for specifics.
What it gets you:
This filing status gets you bigger tax deductions and more favorable tax brackets than if you just filed single. For example, if you have $60,000 of taxable income, the highest tax rate you'd see is 22% if you're a single filer. If you're filing as head of household, on the other hand, your highest tax rate would be 12%. And the standard deduction for single filers is $15,750 for tax year 2025 — but it’s $23,625 for heads of household.
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Married filing separately
Who uses it: High earners who are married, people who think their spouses may be hiding income or people whose spouses have tax liability issues.
For example, if you're thinking of or are in the process of divorcing and don't trust that your spouse is being upfront about income, or if you've recently married someone who is bringing tax problems into the mix, filing separately might be worth thinking about. medical expensesadjusted gross income
How it works:
- Filing separately isn’t the same as filing single. Only unmarried people can use the single tax filing status, and their tax brackets are different in certain spots from those of married individuals filing separately.
- Both spouses must be on the same page. If you opt to use this filing status, both you and your spouse must either itemize or take the standard deduction. If your spouse itemizes, you have to itemize, too, even if the standard deduction would get you more. You’ll also have to decide which spouse gets each deduction, and that can get complicated.
- People who file separately often pay more than they would if they file jointly. Here are a few reasons:
- You can’t deduct student loan interest.
- You may not be able to take the credit for child and dependent care expenses. Also, the amount you can exclude from income if your employer has a dependent care assistance program is half of what it is if you file jointly.
- You may not be eligible for the earned income tax credit.
- You may not be able to take exclusions or credits for adoption expenses in most cases.
- You can’t take the American opportunity or lifetime learning credit.
- Your standard deduction is half that of people married filing jointly.
- The deduction for retirement savings contributions is also half that of couples filing jointly.
- You can deduct only $1,500 of capital losses instead of $3,000.
What it gets you:
Usually just a bigger tax bill, but there are possible perks. If you’re on certain income-based student loan repayment plans, filing separately could reduce your monthly bill if your payments are based only on your income rather than on your joint income as a couple.
However, if you live in a community property state — Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington or Wisconsin — anything couples earn generally belongs to both spouses equally.
Qualifying surviving spouse
Who can use it: People who lost a spouse recently and are supporting a child at home.
How it works:
- You have time. If your spouse died during the tax year, you can file jointly in the year your spouse died. Then, for the next two years, you can use the qualifying surviving spouse status if you have a dependent child.
- The kids are key. If the kids are already out of the house when your spouse dies, this status probably won’t work for you, because you have to have a qualifying child living with you. You also have to provide more than half of the cost of keeping up the house during the tax year.
What it gets you:
The qualifying surviving spouse status lets you file as if you were married filing jointly. That gets you a much higher standard deduction and better tax bracket situation than if you filed as single.
The bottom line
Picking a filing status isn't always straightforward. If you're not sure which status to use, the IRS has a "What is my filing status?" tool that lets you input your information to help you determine which one to choose.
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