Married Taxpayers
If a taxpayer is legally married at the end of the year -- including those taxpayers in the process of divorce and legally wed to same-sex individuals -- the filing status alternatives are:
Joint
Married taxpayers most frequently use the married filing joint (MFJ) status, where the incomes and allowable expenses of both spouses are combined and reported on one tax return. The joint status can be used even if only one spouse had income, and almost always results in the lowest overall tax. Spouses who file together are jointly liable for the tax, meaning either or both can be held responsible for paying the tax from the joint return.
Changing joint filing status to married separate: Once a joint return has been filed, the joint filers may not change to filing separate returns after the unextended due date of the tax return.
Changing married separate status to joint: A taxpayer may file a joint return after filing married separate if the change is made within THREE YEARS from the unextended due date of the original return (Sec 6013(b)).
Annulment: If a marriage is annulled, joint returns filed prior to annulment and still open by the statute of limitations should be amended.
Common law marriages: File married joint for common law marriages, but only if they are recognized under the law in the taxpayer’s locality.
Same-sex marriages: Couples legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages will be treated as married for federal tax purposes (Windsor, (Sup Ct 6/26/2013); Rev Ruling 2013-14) even if the state (or foreign country) where they now live does not recognize same-sex marriages.
Death of a spouse: In the year a spouse dies, and if the executor agrees, the surviving spouse can claim joint status if not remarried by the end of the year. If the survivor does remarry before year-end, the deceased spouse’s status is married separate.
Head of Household
A married individual may use this status if he or she:
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Lived apart from their spouse at least the last six months of the year,
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Pays more than one-half of the cost of maintaining as his or her home a household which is the principal place of abode for more than one-half the year of a child, stepchild, or eligible foster child for whom the taxpayer may claim a dependency exemption. (A nondependent child qualifies only if the taxpayer gave written consent to allow the dependency to the non-custodial parent, or the noncustodial parent has the right to claim the dependency under a pre-’85 divorce agreement)
Married Separate
Another option for married taxpayers is to file as married filing separately (MFS), with each spouse filing a return. Depending on whether the taxpayers are residents of a separate or community property state, these separate returns may include just the income and eligible expenses of each filer or a percentage of their combined income and expenses. Couples may choose the MFS option for a variety of reasons:
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They want to avoid the joint and several liability for the tax.
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They have children from a prior marriage and want to keep finances separate.
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They only want to keep their taxes separate.
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The marriage is tenuous.
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The taxpayers are separated and don’t want to cooperate in filing a joint return.
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One spouse might get a larger refund by filing separately (the other will pay more).
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They think they can save money by filing separate returns, and a variety of other reasons.
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The fact of the matter is that Congress carefully writes the tax laws to eliminate tax breaks for those filing MFS and can make filing very complicated.