The deadline for filing your tax return is getting closer. Have you recently been married, divorced, filing for the first time or just introduced a child? Your filing status has probably changed. Determining the correct tax status you should file under will ensure that you do not accidentally pay too much in income taxes. You don’t want to pay too little and wind up owing the IRS a lot of money.

Taxpayers must utilize one of five standard deductions categories established by the Internal Revenue Service. The five categories include: Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Qualifying Widow with Dependent Child, or Head of Household.

The easiest tax status to understand is filing under Single. If you claim single filing status, you are claiming that you are not married as of the last day of the tax year or legally separated from a spouse through a divorce or separation decree. If you have no children and have no spouse, you file your taxes as single.

Married couples have the option of filing jointly or separately. In order to file under the status Married Filing Jointly, both of you must agree that filing jointly is the status you agree on. Even if one of the parties in the marriage did not accrue income, you can apply jointly and get a higher standard deduction than if you filed taxes separately. Both parties are held responsible for paying the income tax due when filing jointly.

Couples that don’t agree on filing jointly must then file taxes Married Filing Separately. Each party is held responsible for their share of income taxes regardless of what their spouse may owe. It is wise to complete your taxes using both criteria to see which status will cost you less overall. In general, filing taxes separately will result in higher taxes.

If you are widowed, you may be able to file under the status Qualifying Widow with Dependent Child. If you and your spouse were eligible to file married filing jointly the year they died, you meet the first qualification of this status. Second, you must have a child or stepchild that you are able to claim as an exemption. Last, you must have paid more than half of the living expenses for the home for the tax year.

To qualify as Head of Household, you must be unmarried as of the last day of the tax year and have paid for more than half of the costs of keeping up a home for the year. Further, you must have had a qualifying person live with you for more than half of the year. A qualifying person can include your minor child, stepchild or foster child. A disabled parent can also be considered a qualifying person and may not have to live in your home for you to claim head of household status. You must be able to claim your disabled parent as an exemption in order for them to be a qualifying person.

Taxes are confusing and if you are unsure as to your tax filing status, consult a professional. Tax preparers are paid to know the current tax laws and the tax savings you receive from hiring a tax professional will most likely pay off in the long run. You can also consult the IRS website, or Wikipedia, which I thought did a pretty good job explaining things.

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