Would it be better to file married/joint or head of household?

[pdowns05]

Me and my husband have lived seperately for over a year now. I care for all 3 children and he's not worked in over a year now either. We don't have anything like a legal seperation either. I know I can file HOH but should I file married/joint? Which would be better? Thank You!

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

Usually, filing a joint return results in lower overall taxes.   You can file jointly if you and your spouse both agree, even if you are separated.  You would also want to agree in advance on how to divide any resulting refund.  If your husband has no income and no deductions to contribute, then probably filing jointly would result in a $900-$1200 larger refund.  If you have more than $24,000 in itemized deductions, such as state and local income taxes, property taxes, charity donations, and mortgage interest, then it would make no difference at all. 

The only way to know for sure is to test it both ways. Every person‘s situation is unique.