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On December 22, 2017, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was signed into law. The information in this article predates the tax reform legislation and may not apply to tax returns starting in the 2018 tax year. You may wish to speak to your tax advisor about the latest tax law. This publication is provided for your convenience and does not constitute legal advice. This publication is protected by copyright.

Filing Status
A taxpayer's filing status (except Head of Household) is based on their marital status as of the last day of the year and in the case of married individuals whether they wish to file jointly or separately. Thus, if not married on the last day of the tax year, the taxpayer would generally file as “single” status. If married on the last day of the year, he/she would file as married filing jointly or as married filing separately. A taxpayer's filing status determines the amount of their standard deduction for the year and income levels where tax rates change. In addition to the filing statuses discussed above and the Head of Household discussed separately, there is one additional rarely used status called qualified widow(er) with a dependent child. It is for a surviving spouse who is allowed to use the married filing joint rates for the two years after the year of death of a spouse if certain requirements are met.
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