What Tax Filing Status You Can Claim.

If you are filing an income tax return, you must know which filing status applies to you. The tax filing status is very important! It determines your personal deduction, the amount of tax you would need to pay or if you will receive a tax refund.

Here are some facts about the individual tax filing status that you would claim on form 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ, as well as on the State tax returns.

• Your marital status on the last day of the year determines your marital status for the entire year. So if you married on December 31st of 2009, you tax filing status would be married filing jointly or separately.
• If more than one filing status applies to you, should choose the one that gives you the lowest tax obligation.
• Single filing status generally applies to anyone who is unmarried, divorced or legally separated according to state law.
• If your spouse died during the year and you did not remarry during that tax year, you may still file a joint return with that spouse for the year of death, provided the joint return election is not revoked by a personal representative for the deceased spouse.
• Head of Household generally applies to taxpayers who are unmarried and have dependents. You must also have paid more than half the cost of maintaining a home for you and a qualifying person (dependent) to qualify for this filing status.
• You may be able to choose Qualifying Widow(er) with Dependent Child as your filing status if your spouse died during 2007 or 2008, you have a dependent child and you meet certain other conditions.

For more information please refer to Publication 501: Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.