Tax Filing Status: Qualifying Surviving Spouse

Mark Steber

Chief Tax Information Officer

Published on: November 16, 2023

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Losing a spouse or partner is one of the most difficult things you can experience in your life. The IRS offers a filing status for if this happens to you or someone you know and can be helpful during a difficult time. In this article, we will cover what this status is, what the eligibility criteria are, why your filing status is important, and beyond.

Filing taxes as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse with dependent child for 2023

Qualifying Surviving Spouse is for people who have recently lost a spouse and are supporting a dependent child, or children, at home.

Your filing status is a direct result of your current marital status. Meaning, you’re either married and can file jointly or separately, or you are unmarried and able to file as single, qualifying surviving spouse, or head of household.

Why is your filing status important?

Your filing status determines your standard deduction, your tax rate and the credits you are eligible for, and their phase-out ranges. It’s also important to understand your current tax filing status, so that you can properly fill out a W-4, which is the standard tax form used by employers to know how much federal tax to withhold from the employee’s paycheck.

And you need to know your filing status when it comes time to file your taxes, so that you can file a tax return complete with all your allowed deductions and credits, to maximize your refund.

What does Qualifying Surviving Spouse with dependent child filing status mean?

If your spouse passed away in the same tax year, you could still file jointly for that year, and it is generally a better option for you. After that, the IRS gives you a break, and allows you to file as “Qualifying Surviving Spouse,” so that you can get those same benefits for a while longer. For the next two years after that, you can claim the “qualifying surviving spouse” status (used to be known as “the Qualifying Widow(er) status”) if you have a dependent child. For example, if your spouse died in 2023 and you haven’t remarried, you should file jointly for 2023, then as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse for years 2024 and 2025—and get those tax benefits.

Keep in mind that to use the Qualifying Surviving Spouse status, you must have a qualifying dependent child (a child under 19, or under 24 that’s a full-time student and living at home, or totally disabled) that you support and is living at home with you. For surviving spouses, the standard deduction, tax brackets, and income limits for most credits are the same as the Married Filing Jointly status.

Qualifying Surviving Spouse filing status requirements

The IRS defines the spouse year of death as the last year for which you can file jointly with your deceased spouse. You may be eligible to use Qualifying Surviving Spouse as your filing status for two years following the year of death of your spouse.

Standard deduction for Qualifying Surviving Spouse filers

The Qualifying Surviving Spouse filing status is the largest one, at $27,700. We have also listed the other filing status standard deduction amounts for 2023 (taxes filed in 2024) below.

Below are the standard deductions for 2023.

Filing status	2023 standard deduction
Single	$13,850
Married Filing Jointly/Qualifying Surviving Spouse	$27,700
Married Filing Separately	$13,850
Head of Household	$20,800

The benefits of filing as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse

There are numerous benefits to filing as a Qualifying Surviving Spouse, like a higher standard deduction rate, but you can work with your Tax Pro to see what the most accurate and best status for you is, depending on what has happened in the past year.

Is one filing status better for getting money back than the others?

It depends. It’s the accuracy of your return that counts. Making an error will only delay your refund and could result in penalties and added interest. You want to make sure you’re claiming the best filing status and all the deductions and credits you qualify for, so you can pay the lowest taxes or get the biggest refund.

We are here for you as you navigate the tax season and beyond. You never have to tax alone. Find a local Tax Pro near you today.

About the Author

Mark Steber is Senior Vice President and Chief Tax Information Officer for Jackson Hewitt. With over 30 years of experience, he oversees tax service delivery, quality assurance and tax law adherence. Mark is Jackson Hewitt’s national spokesperson and liaison to the Internal Revenue Service and other government authorities. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), holds registrations in Alabama and Georgia, and is an expert on consumer income taxes including electronic tax and tax data protection.

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