what is filing status 
filing status is a category that defines the type of tax return form a taxpayer must use when filing their taxes filing status is closely tied to marital status understanding filing statusthe filing status is important because an individual s tax bracket and therefore the amount they must pay is determined by marital status the number of children occupation and several other factors you must file your status honestly or it will be considered fraudulent and penalties will be assessed for federal income tax purposes a taxpayer falls into one of five categories single married filing jointly married filing separately head of household and qualifying widow er with dependent children 12a single filer is a taxpayer that is unmarried divorced a registered domestic partner or legally separated according to state law as of the last day of the tax year 3 the head of a household or a person who is widowed may not fall under the single category for tax purposes 4 single filers have lower income limits for most exemptions 5an individual that is married by the end of the tax year can file tax returns jointly with their spouse when filing under married filing jointly status couples can record their respective incomes exemptions and deductions on the same tax return 4 a joint tax return often provides a bigger tax refund or a lower tax liability 51married filing jointly is best if only one spouse has a significant income if both spouses work and the income and itemized deductions are large and very unequal it may be more advantageous to file separately a head of household is a single or unmarried taxpayer who pays at least 50 of the costs of supporting their household and lives with other qualifying family members for whom they provide support for more than half of the year this means that the taxpayer must have paid more than half of the total household bills including rent or mortgage utility bills insurance property taxes groceries repairs and other common household expenses some examples of qualifying family members include a dependent child grandchild sibling grandparent or anyone else you can claim as an exemption 4a head of household benefits from a lower tax rate 61during the year in which a spouse dies the surviving spouse can typically use the joint filing status for the two tax years following the year of a spouse s death the surviving spouse can file as a qualifying surviving spouse while the surviving spouse cannot continue to claim an exemption for the deceased spouse they may claim the standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly 4the tax bracket and income range for a surviving spouse is the same as that for married filing jointly 4