Filing Single, Unmarried Individual

Your filing status is Single if:

• You are unmarried as of December 31 of the tax year being filed.

State law governs whether you are married or legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance decree.

Your filing status is single if, on the last day of the year, you are unmarried or legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree, and you do not qualify for another filing status.

For a Widow(er). Your filing status may be single if you were widowed before January 1, and did not remarry before the end of of the year. However, you might be able to use the Head of Household filing status that may give you a lower tax. ie; Widow(er) With Dependent Child.

You can file Form 1040EZ (if you have no dependents, are under 65 and not blind, and meet other requirements), Form 1040A, or Form 1040, show your filing status as single by checking the box on line 1. Use the Single column of the Tax Table, or Section A of the Tax Computation Worksheet, to figure your tax.

Federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 defined marriage as, a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife. The word spouse refers only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife.

Domestic Partners are Considered Unmarried

If you are unmarried and have children, you may be able to file your tax return as Head of Household. In most instances filing your tax return as head of household offers tax advantages because, as you can see from the Tax Rate Schedules above, the tax rates are lower.