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Filing status and dependents

REG Chapter 16 · Area IV · Blueprint IV.E

Filing status sets the tax brackets, the standard deduction and which credits a taxpayer can claim, and it often turns on who counts as a dependent. This chapter covers the five filing statuses, how marital status is fixed on the last day of the year, head of household and qualifying surviving spouse, and the tests for a qualifying child and a qualifying relative, including tiebreakers, multiple support agreements and divorced parents. The Blueprint asks you to recall the statuses and dependency relationships and to identify the right status in a scenario. Owen, Grace and Tomas each bring Reggie a household that doesn't fit the boxes neatly. Figures are for tax year 2026.

In this chapter

  1. The five filing statuses and the December 31 rule
  2. Married filing jointly or separately
  3. Head of household
  4. Qualifying surviving spouse
  5. The qualifying child tests
  6. The qualifying relative tests
  7. Divorced parents, consequences of dependency and reviewing status

This chapter has 7 lessons, 50 practice MCQs with explanations and 20 simulations, plus flashcards and a recall sheet.

What this chapter covers

Chapter 15: Loss limitations · Chapter 17: Computation of tax and credits