The Five Filing Statuses
- Single — unmarried, divorced, or legally separated as of December 31
- Married Filing Jointly — combines both spouses' income and deductions on one return; usually the lowest combined tax
- Married Filing Separately — each spouse files their own return; sometimes beneficial for specific deduction or liability reasons
- Head of Household — unmarried, paying more than half the cost of a home for a qualifying dependent; gets a higher standard deduction than Single
- Qualifying Surviving Spouse — available for up to two years after a spouse's death if you have a dependent child
Married Filing Jointly vs. Separately
Filing jointly combines both spouses' income and typically produces the lowest overall tax due to wider bracket thresholds. Filing separately can make sense in specific situations — one spouse has significant medical expenses or miscellaneous deductions tied to a percentage of income, or there's a concern about liability for the other spouse's tax reporting.
Head of Household Requirements
To qualify for Head of Household, you must be unmarried (or considered unmarried) at year-end, have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and have a qualifying dependent living with you for more than half the year. It carries a meaningfully higher standard deduction ($24,150 for 2026) than filing Single ($16,100).
Why It Matters
Filing status changes your standard deduction, your tax bracket thresholds, and your eligibility for certain credits and deductions — choosing incorrectly (or missing that you qualify for Head of Household instead of Single) can meaningfully change what you owe or get refunded.
This page is for educational purposes and isn't personalized tax advice. Tax rules, brackets, and deadlines are set annually by the IRS and subject to change — confirm current figures at irs.gov or with a tax professional before filing.