how married filing separately works
the internal revenue service irs gives taxpayers five tax filing status options when they submit their annual tax returns single married filing jointly married filing separately head of household or qualifying widow er 1anyone who files as married in either category filing separately or filing jointly must be married as of the last day of that tax year in other words someone who filed taxes for the year 2022 as married must have been married no later than dec 31 2022 2using the married filing separately status may be appealing and offer financial advantages to certain couples combining incomes and filing jointly might push them into a higher tax bracket and thus increase their tax bill 