If you were not married on December 31, 2019, you can not file as married filing separately for 2019. Your two options to file would be filing single or if you have qualifying dependents you would file as head of household.
To file as head of household, you must: Pay for more than half of the household expenses. Be considered unmarried for the tax year, and you must have a qualifying child or dependent.
A Qualifying Child is a child who meets the six IRS requirements to be a dependent for tax purposes.
* Relationship – must be the taxpayer’s child or stepchild (by blood or adoption), foster child, sibling or step-sibling, or a descendant of any of these.
* Age – on Dec 31st, must be under the age of 19, or the age of 24 if a full-time student, or regardless of age, be permanently and totally disabled.
* Residence – the child must have lived with the taxpayer for more than 6 months of the tax year. Exceptions are made for the children of separated or divorced parents. If a child was born or died during the year, they are considered to have lived with you the entire year.
* Support – refers to the child’s income, which must not have provided more than half of the child’s support for the tax year
* Joint Return – the child cannot file a joint return unless the return is filed only to claim a refund of withholdings
* Citizenship – the child must be a US citizen, US resident alien, and the child must have an SSN by the date the return is filed.
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