Filing Status

[fakeclouds00]

I am confused on how to file. I have been living apart from my spouse since 2018. The first couple years I think I filed married filing separately. I have the children with me full-time, but we are not legally separated or divorced. How should I be filing?

[MinhT1]

If you have lived apart from your husband in the last six months of the tax year, you are considered unmarried.

If you have dependent children and pay at least half the household expenses, you can file as Head of Household.

Filing as Head of Household will result in less tax and more refund, as your income will fall in lower tax brackets and you will have a higher standard deduction.

These are conditions to satisfy in order to file as Head of household. You must:

• Pay for more than half of the household expenses
• Be considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year, and
• You must have a qualifying child or dependent.

Please read this TurboTax article for more information