Filing Status
A taxpayer’s filing status is important in federal income tax. The major effect of filing status is on the tax rate applied to taxable incometaxable incomeGross income less deductions for AGI, and less exemptions and itemized or standard deductions.. There are five filing statuses in federal income tax: (1) single, (2) married filing jointly, (3) married filing separately, (4) head of household and, (5) qualifying widow(er) with dependent child.
Go to Chapter 2, The Federal Income Tax Return, Publication 17 and read the entire chapter: Filing Status.
Questions
Deanna divorced in 2007, and has filed a joint return with her ex-husband in 2008. During 2008 she did not remarry and continued to maintain her home in which her two dependent children lived. In the preparation of her 2008 income tax return, Deanna should file as:
A single individual
Qualifying widow(er)
Head of household
Married filing separately
None of the above
Which of the following is not a requirement to file as head of household?
The taxpayer must be unmarried, or considered unmarried on December 31.
The taxpayer must pay more than half the cost of keeping a home for the year.
The taxpayer must claim a dependent.
A qualifying person (not including a parent) lived with the taxpayer in the home for more than half the year.
