Since you were married on December 31, you have to either file as married filing jointly (MFJ) or married filing separate (MFS).
You can choose married filing separately as your filing status if you are married. This filing status may benefit you if you
want to be responsible only for your own tax or if it results in less tax than filing a joint return.
If you and your spouse don't agree to file a joint return, you must use this filing status unless you qualify for head of
household status, discussed later.
You can choose married filing jointly as your filing status if you
are considered married and both you and your spouse agree
to file a joint return. On a joint return, you
and your spouse report your combined income and deduct your combined
allowable
expenses. You can file a joint return even if
one of you had no income or deductions.
If you and your spouse decide to file a joint return, your tax may be
lower than your combined tax for the other filing statuses.
Also, your standard deduction (if you don't
itemize deductions) may be higher, and you may qualify for tax benefits
that don't
apply to other filing.
You may qualify to file as Head of Household. To qualify for head of household status, you must be either unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year.
You are considered unmarried on the last day of the tax year if you meet all the following tests.
-
You file a separate return. A separate return includes a return claiming married filing separately, single, or head of household
filing status.
-
You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home for the tax year.
-
Your spouse didn't live in your home during the last 6 months of the tax year. Your spouse is considered to live in your home
even if he or she is temporarily absent due to special circumstances. See
Temporary absences .
-
Your home was the main home of your child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year. (See
Home of qualifying person
..., for rules applying to a child's birth, death, or temporary absence during the year.)
-
You must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, you meet this test if you can't claim the exemption only because
the noncustodial parent can claim the child using the rules described in
Children of divorced or separa... under Qualifying Child or in
Support Test for Children of D... under Qualifying Relative. The general rules for claiming an exemption for a dependent are explained later under
Exemptions for Dependents
....
