Juliette Fairly for Main Street writes: With three filing statuses that pertain to being single, choosing the right one can help taxpayers make the most of their financial situation.
"Single filers can have an advantage over theirmarried counterparts, because dual incomemarried couples often pay more tax due to the marriage penalty," said Shea Pease, senior manager with the ParenteBeard accounting firm.
A couple suffers a marriage penalty if its partners pay more income tax as a married couple than they would as two single individuals. Conversely, the couple receives a marriage bonus if its partners pay less income tax as a married couple than they would have as two single individuals.
"Tax issues for single women are not unique by gender," said Mark Steber, chief tax officer with Jackson Hewitt, a tax preparation service. "There are differences in filing single versus filing married and even further married filing separate, but many considerations regarding filing status are not gender based."
More than 11 million households are single families, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"Single women, single men and taxpayers in general need to watch for tax law changes but even more importantly life changes," Steber told MainStreet. "Life changes may include marriage or divorce but more commonly relocation, moving and taking care of a new dependent."
Having children changes everything in more ways than one.
"If you are single due to a spouse passing, widows who have dependent children are entitled to a special filing status for two subsequent years," Pease toldMainStreet.
A single parent can usually claim head of household filing status if he or she is the only adult in the home; provides more than half the cost of rent, utilities and food; and has dependent children. [snip] The article continues at MainStreet.com, You can follow the author Juliette Fairley on Twitter here.
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