Chapter 8: Individual Income Tax Computation and Tax Credits

Chapter 8: Individual Income Tax Computation and Tax Credits

1. Tax bracket

   • Each separate range of income subject to a different tax rate

2. Married filing jointly

   • The taxpayer is legally married as of the end of the year (or one spouse died during the year and the surviving spouse did not remarry) and both agree to jointly file

3. Qualifying widow or widower (surviving spouse)

   • Applies for up to 2 years after the year in which the taxpayer's spouse dies as long as the taxpayer remains unmarried and maintains a household for a dependent child

4. Married filing separately

   • When married couples file separately, each spouse reports the income he/she received during the year and the deductions he/she paid on a tax return separate from the other spouse

5. Head of household

   • The taxpayer is unmarried as of the end of the year and pays more than half of the cost to maintain a household for a qualifying person who lives with the taxpayer for more than half of the year

6. Single

   • The taxpayer is unmarried as of the end of the year and does not qualify for any of the other filing statuses