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Get your taxes done using TurboTax
Congratulations on the wedding!
There are five tax filing statuses, and choosing the correct one is important. The filing statuses are:
- Single
- Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)
- Married Filing Separately (MFS)
- Head of Household HOH)
- Qualifying Surviving Spouse (QSS)
With respect to being married, the IRS looks to your marital status as of the last day of the year. So, no matter which day in the year you got married, your marital status for the tax year will be based on your situation on December 31 of the year.
You are considered married for the whole year if, on the last day of your tax year, you and your spouse meet any one of the following tests.
- You are married and living together.
- You are living together in a common law marriage recognized in the state where
you now live or in the state where the common law marriage began. - You are married and living apart but not legally separated under a decree of divorce
or separate maintenance. - You are separated under an interlocutory (not final) decree of divorce.
So, if you are considered married as of December 31, you have two options of filing status: either Married Filing Jointly, or Married Filing Separately. To file a joint return, both you and your spouse have to agree to file a joint return.
NOTE: there is a situation where a married person MAY be able to file as Head of Household, even if still legally married as of the last day of the tax year. The only way a married person can file Head of Household is if they meet the IRS rules to be "considered unmarried". Generally speaking, you meet this rule if you paid over 1/2 the costs of maintaining your home, and your home was the main home of a qualifying child, AND your spouse did not live in your home during the last six months of the year. More detailed information on these rules can be found in IRS publication 501, beginning on page 8: IRS Publication 501
In your situation, you specifically asked which filing status would be more beneficial. Based on the above, I presume you will not be meeting the "Considered Unmarried" rules, so your options are MFJ or MFS. Usually filing jointly is better (or the same) for tax purposes, but that is not always the case. The only way you can tell for sure which gives a better tax answer is to prepare a joint return, then prepare two married filing separate returns (one for you and one for your spouse) - and compare the results of the joint return to the combined results of the two separate returns.
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