J.K. Lasser's Your Income Tax 2013: For Preparing Your 2012 Tax Return

1.1 Which Filing Status Should You Use?

Your filing status generally depends on whether you are married at the end of the year, and, if unmarried, whether you maintain a household for a qualifying dependent. The five filing statuses are: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, and qualifying widow or widower.

If you are married at the end of the year, you may file jointly (1.4) or separately (1.3). If you lived apart from your spouse for the last half of 2012 and your child lived with you, you may qualify as an “unmarried” head of household (1.12) for 2012, which allows you to apply more favorable tax rates than you could as a married person filing separately.

If you are unmarried at the end of the year, your filing status is single unless you meet the tests for a head of household or qualifying widow(er). Generally, you are a head of household (1.12) if you pay more than 50% of the household costs for a dependent child or relative who lives with you, or for a dependent parent, whether or not he or she lives with you. For 2012, you generally are a qualifying widow(er) (1.11) if you were widowed in 2010 or 2011 and in 2012 you paid more than 50% of the household costs for you and your dependent child. The tax rates for heads of household and for qualifying widow(er)s are more favorable than those for single taxpayers (1.2).

The filing status you use determines the tax rates that apply to your taxable income (1.2), as well as the standard deduction ...