Thursday, November 13, 2008

Filing Status Part I – Single (S)

Filing status is a subject of confusion for many taxpayers. This is one area that can get a taxpayer into trouble if not addressed correctly. For a more detailed look at how the IRS views the different filing statuses you may want to reference IRS publication 17. Therefore I am writing a 5-part blog, which will cover all the different types of filing statuses, which are:

Single (S)
Married Filing Jointly (MFJ)
Married Filing Separately (MFS)
Head of Household (H/H)
Qualifying Widow (er) With Dependent Child (Q/W)

We will begin by looking at the first filing status, single (S). Under IRS rules a taxpayer is considered single (S) if he or she is unmarried or legally separated from a spouse by divorce or separate maintenance. The taxpayer also must not qualify for any other type of filing status. The taxpayer is considered married for the entire year if they are married on the last day of the year and is unmarried or legally separated from a spouse under a divorce decree or separate maintenance.

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