Filing status practice questions with answers
Fifteen free filing status practice questions with explained answers, written as short scenarios for US tax year 2025. Filing status is the category that decides which tax rates, standard deduction and credit limits a federal return uses, and there are five: single, married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household and qualifying surviving spouse. The topic is tested in SEE Part 1, the individuals part of the IRS Special Enrollment Examination. These questions are for exam practice and general learning, not tax advice, and they follow IRS Publication 501 for 2025.
How to use these questions
Try each question before opening the explanation and commit to one letter. Underline the date and the counting words in the stem, such as “last day of the year”, “more than half” and “last six months”, because they usually decide the status. Read why each wrong option fails, since the same distractors return on real exams. Rules can differ from year to year, so another exam year needs a fresh check. The guide filing status holds the theory behind these fifteen.
Warm-up: marital status and the basic statuses
Question 1. Lena and Mark married on December 20, 2025. Neither has children. Which statement about their 2025 filing status is correct?
- A. Each files as single, because the marriage began late in the year
- B. They must wait until 2026 to choose a married status
- C. They are considered married for all of 2025 and can file jointly or separately
- D. Only head of household or single is available to them
Show answer
Answer: C
Marital status is set on the last day of the tax year, so they are considered married for the whole of 2025. They can file a joint return if both agree, or file separately as married filing separately. Single is not available for any part of the year once they are married on December 31. There is no need to wait until 2026.
Question 2. Carlos received a final divorce decree on December 15, 2025. He has no children and has not remarried. Which filing status applies to him for 2025?
- A. Single
- B. Married filing jointly
- C. Married filing separately
- D. Qualifying surviving spouse
Show answer
Answer: A
A person divorced under a final decree by the last day of the year is considered unmarried for the whole year, and without a qualifying person Carlos is single. He cannot choose married filing jointly or separately, because he is no longer married on December 31. Qualifying surviving spouse requires that a spouse has died.
Question 3. Tom's wife died in August 2025. He has not remarried and has no dependents. Which filing status can he use for 2025?
- A. Single
- B. Qualifying surviving spouse
- C. Head of household
- D. Married filing jointly
Show answer
Answer: D
If a spouse dies during the year, the survivor is considered married for the whole year and, if not remarried by the end of the year, can file a joint return with the deceased spouse. Qualifying surviving spouse applies only to the later years and needs a dependent child. Head of household needs a qualifying person. Single is not the best match because he is considered married for 2025.
Question 4. Nina's husband died in 2022. She has not remarried. Her 8-year-old daughter, whom she can claim as a dependent, lived with her all of 2025, and Nina paid all the costs of the home. Which status can she use for 2025?
- A. Qualifying surviving spouse
- B. Head of household
- C. Single
- D. Married filing jointly
Show answer
Answer: B
Qualifying surviving spouse requires that the spouse died in 2023 or 2024 for a 2025 return, so a death in 2022 is too early. She is unmarried, paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home and has a qualifying child living with her, so head of household applies. Single would give her less than the status she qualifies for. Married filing jointly was only available for the year of death.
Question 5. Which set of requirements must all be met to file as head of household?
- A. Unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day, more than half the cost of keeping up the home paid, and a qualifying person living there for more than half the year
- B. Unmarried on the last day, and a qualifying person living there for the whole year
- C. Unmarried on the last day, and more than half of the qualifying person’s total support paid
- D. Aged 65 or older, unmarried, and a qualifying person living there for more than half the year
Show answer
Answer: A
Head of household requires being unmarried or considered unmarried on the last day of the year, paying more than half the cost of keeping up a home, and having a qualifying person who lived there for more than half the year, with an exception for a dependent parent. The qualifying person does not have to live there all year. Paying more than half of the qualifying person’s support is not the test, and there is no age requirement.
Scenarios: head of household and surviving spouse
Question 6. Which of these costs counts when deciding whether a taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home?
- A. Clothing for the children
- B. College tuition
- C. A family vacation
- D. Food eaten in the home
Show answer
Answer: D
The cost of keeping up a home includes rent, mortgage interest, real estate taxes, home insurance, repairs, utilities and food eaten in the home. Clothing, education, medical treatment, vacations, life insurance and transportation are not included. Only the food eaten in the home is therefore counted.
Question 7. Rosa is married and files a separate return for 2025. Her husband moved out on August 15, 2025. Their son lived with her all year, she can claim him and she paid all the costs of the home. Why can she not file as head of household?
- A. Her son did not live with her for more than half the year
- B. Her husband lived in the home during part of the last six months of the year
- C. She has no legal separation decree
- D. Married persons can never file as head of household
Show answer
Answer: B
To be considered unmarried, the spouse must not have lived in the home during the last six months of the tax year, which for 2025 means July 1 to December 31. Her husband lived there until August 15, so the test fails. The son and the cost tests are met. A divorce or separate maintenance decree is not required for the considered unmarried rule, and married persons can qualify when all its tests are met.
Question 8. Maria is unmarried. Her mother lived in her own apartment all year, is Maria's dependent, and Maria paid more than half the cost of keeping up that apartment. Which filing status can Maria use?
- A. Single only
- B. Qualifying surviving spouse
- C. Head of household
- D. Married filing separately
Show answer
Answer: C
A dependent parent is the exception to the live-in rule: the parent need not live with the taxpayer, but the taxpayer must pay more than half the cost of keeping up the parent’s main home for the whole year and be able to claim the parent as a dependent. These conditions are met, so Maria can file as head of household. Single would not use the qualifying person, qualifying surviving spouse needs a deceased spouse, and she is not married.
Question 9. Jon is unmarried and pays all the costs of his home. A friend, who is not related to him, lived with him all year as a member of his household. Which filing status applies to Jon?
- A. Single
- B. Head of household
- C. Qualifying surviving spouse
- D. Married filing separately
Show answer
Answer: A
A friend is not a qualifying person for head of household because the friend is not related to Jon in one of the ways the rules list, even if the friend could be a qualifying relative for other purposes. Without a qualifying person, Jon is single. Head of household needs a qualifying person, qualifying surviving spouse needs a deceased spouse, and he is not married.
Question 10. Elena's husband died in 2024 and she has not remarried. She has no children of her own. An eligible foster child, whom she can claim as a dependent, lived with her all of 2025 and she paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home. Which status can she use for 2025?
- A. Qualifying surviving spouse
- B. Married filing jointly
- C. Head of household
- D. Single
Show answer
Answer: C
Qualifying surviving spouse requires a child or stepchild who is not a foster child, so Elena does not qualify for it. A foster child can, however, be a qualifying person for head of household, and she is unmarried, paid more than half the home costs and the child lived with her. Married filing jointly was available only for the year of death, and single would be less favorable than the status she qualifies for.
Edge cases and traps
Question 11. A couple filed a joint return for 2025 on time. After the due date has passed, one spouse wants to change to separate returns. What do the rules say?
- A. They can file amended separate returns within three years of filing
- B. They can file amended separate returns within two years of paying the tax
- C. They can change if both spouses agree
- D. They cannot change to separate returns after the due date
Show answer
Answer: D
Once a joint return is filed, spouses cannot choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return. The exception is a personal representative of a decedent, who can change from a joint return to a separate return for the decedent within one year of the due date. Amending within three years or two years applies to other changes, and mutual agreement does not override the rule.
Question 12. Two spouses filed separate returns for 2025 as married filing separately. Later they decide a joint return would have been better. What is the general rule?
- A. It is not allowed once separate returns are filed
- B. They can file Form 1040-X for a joint return, generally within three years of the due date of the separate returns
- C. They can only do it by filing a new original Form 1040
- D. They can do it only within two years after paying the tax
Show answer
Answer: B
A separate return can be changed to a joint return by filing an amended return on Form 1040-X, generally within three years of the due date of the separate returns, not counting extensions. Changing from separate to joint is allowed, unlike the reverse after the due date. A new original Form 1040 is not the route, and the two-year payment rule is not the one that applies here.
Question 13. Ben and Ava are married and file separately for 2025. Ava itemizes her deductions. Which statement about Ben's deduction is correct?
- A. Ben may take the standard deduction of half the joint amount
- B. Ben may take the full standard deduction
- C. Ben cannot take the standard deduction and must itemize
- D. Ava’s choice has no effect on Ben
Show answer
Answer: C
If a spouse who files separately itemizes deductions, the other spouse cannot claim the standard deduction and must itemize too. Ben cannot take half of the joint amount or the full amount in that case. The choice of one spouse does affect the other under married filing separately. The one exception would be a spouse who qualifies as considered unmarried and files as head of household, which is not the case for Ben.
Question 14. A married couple files separate returns for 2025. One spouse paid tuition for a degree program. Which statement about education tax benefits is correct?
- A. Neither the American opportunity credit nor the lifetime learning credit can be claimed
- B. Each spouse can claim half of the American opportunity credit
- C. The credits can be claimed in full on the separate return
- D. Only the lifetime learning credit can be claimed
Show answer
Answer: A
Under married filing separately a taxpayer generally cannot take the American opportunity credit or the lifetime learning credit, and cannot take the student loan interest deduction. The credits are not halved or split between separate returns, and the lifetime learning credit is not an exception. Filing a joint return is the way a couple would be able to claim these benefits, subject to the other rules.
Question 15. Dave and Ellen filed a joint return. The IRS later assesses extra tax because Dave underreported income, and Ellen did not know. Which statement is correct?
- A. Only Dave is liable, because he earned the income
- B. Each spouse is liable for exactly half of the extra tax
- C. A later divorce decree moves the liability to Dave for the IRS as well
- D. Both can be held responsible for all of it, and Ellen may ask for relief on Form 8857
Show answer
Answer: D
Both spouses on a joint return can be held responsible, jointly and individually, for the tax, interest and penalties, even if all the income was the other spouse’s. Ellen may be able to ask for relief, such as innocent spouse relief, by filing Form 8857. A divorce decree that assigns the debt to the other spouse does not bind the IRS. Liability is not limited to the spouse who earned the income or to half the amount.
Where to go next
Review the theory in filing status, then try the same format on other subjects with risk calculation practice questions and security controls practice questions. The free 20-question SEE Part 1 practice test mixes this topic with the rest of the exam, and multiple-choice exam tips cover how to handle the constraint words.