What is your filing status?<=
/u>
Generally, your marital status on =
the last
day of the year determines your filing status for the entire year. If you are unmarried, or if you a=
re
legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance =
decree
according to your state law, and you do not qualify for another filing stat=
us,
your filing status is single.
Generally, to qualify for head of
household status, you must be unmarried and not entitled to file as a
qualifying widow or widower with a dependent child. You must also have prov=
ided
more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the
main home for a qualifying person. You may also qualify for head of househo=
ld
status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse has not
lived in your home during the last six months of the tax year, and you prov=
ided
more than half of the cost of maintaining as your home, a household that was
the main home for a qualifying child, for more than one half of your tax ye=
ar.
If you are married, you a=
nd your
spouse may file a joint return or separate returns.
If
your spouse died in 2006 and you did not remarry before the end of the year,
you may still file a joint return. This is the last year for which you may =
file
a joint return with that spouse.
If your spouse died during 2004 or 2005, you may be able to file as a
qualifying widow or widower. To do this, you must meet all four of the
following tests:
- You were entitled to file a joint retur=
n with
your spouse in the year he or she died. It does not matter whether you
actually filed a joint return,
- You did not remarry before the end of 2=
006,
- You have a child, stepchild, adopted ch=
ild,
or foster child for whom you can claim a dependency exemption, and
- You paid more than half the cost of kee=
ping
up a home that was the main home for you and that child, for the whole
year.