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Video: Can an Unmarried Couple File Jointly?

Written by a TurboTax Expert • Reviewed by a TurboTax CPA

Updated for Tax Year 2025 • August 4, 2026 1:31 AM

OVERVIEW

If you are recently divorced or plan to be married soon, you should watch this video to find out what filing status you are eligible for.

NEW TAX LAW CHANGES

The One Big Beautiful Bill that passed includes permanently extending tax cuts from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including increasing the cap on the amount of state and local or sales tax and property tax (SALT) that you can deduct, makes cuts to energy credits passed under the Inflation Reduction Act, makes changes to taxes on tips and overtime for certain workers, reforms Medicaid, increases the Debt ceiling, and reforms Pell Grants and student loans. Updates to this article are in process. Check our One Big Beautiful Bill article for more information.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Video transcript:

Video transcript:

Can an unmarried couple filed jointly? Let's explore filing statuses for couples in this edition of Tax Tips by TurboTax.

Although some states allow unmarried couples to file joint state tax returns, they are not eligible to file jointly at the federal level.

Married couples who file a joint return often pay less income tax than married couples who file separately, and are also eligible to take
a Standard Deduction that is double that of a single taxpayer.

But what if you're newly married or recently divorced?

The IRS only allows a couple to file jointly if they are legally married, as recognized by the state laws where they married, regardless in which state they reside after the wedding. There's no minimum time requirement to qualify as married.

Even if you get married on December 31st, the IRS will consider you married for that tax year. The same idea applies to divorcing couples.

As long as you were legally married on the last day of the tax year, you can file your taxes using a married status. However, if you and your ex-spouse prefer not to file together, you can do so using the “married filing separately” status.

But what about unmarried couples with kids?

While you don't qualify to file jointly, you may still qualify for other filing statuses on your federal return. For example, when unmarried couples have children together, one of the parents may qualify for “Head of household.”

This filing status offers a larger Standard Deduction and better tax brackets than filing single. To qualify, you must pay more than half the household expenses and the child must live with you for more than half the year.

When you file with TurboTax, we’ll guide you to your best filing status, so you get the tax benefits you deserve. Visit TurboTax.com for more info, to help you file your taxes with confidence.

close-up of a person putting an engagement ring on a hand

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Video: Tax Tips For The Newly Married Video: Who You Can Claim as a Dependent on Your Tax Return Video: How to Prove Head of Household For The IRS Video: Should a Married Couple File Jointly or Separately?When Married Filing Separately Will Save You Taxes

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When Married Filing Separately Will Save You Taxes Getting Divorced Getting Married: What Newlyweds Need to Know Married Filing Jointly vs Separately: How Should You and Your Spouse File Taxes?Tax Tips for Separated Couples

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More self-employed deductions: based on the median amount of expenses found by TurboTax Do It Yourself Premium (formerly Self Employed) customers who synced accounts, imported and categorized transactions compared to manual entry. Individual results may vary.
TurboTax Online Business Products: For TurboTax Expert Assist Business and TurboTax Expert Full Service Business, we currently don’t support the following tax situations: C-Corps (Form 1120) and entities electing to be treated as a C-Corp, Trust/Estates (Form 1041), Tax Exempt Entities/Non-Profits, returns that require more than 5 state filings, and other issues unrelated to the preparation of a tax return or unrelated to business income/franchise taxes.
Audit Defense: Audit Defense is a third-party add-on service provided, for an additional fee, by TaxResources, Inc., dba Tax Audit. Audit Defense is included at no added cost with business returns filed with TurboTax Experts for Business (excluding Sole Proprietor). See Membership Agreements at https://www.intuit.com/legal/terms/ for service terms and conditions.

TURBOTAX EXPERT 365 BUSINESS Subscription Terms:

Who’s Eligible for Expert 365 Business:

Expert 365 Business is available to new QuickBooks customers with the following entity and business tax situations: sole proprietorships and single-member LLCs.
At this time, the following entity types and business tax situations are not eligible for Expert 365 Business: C-Corps, S-Corps, partnerships.

Your Expert 365 Business subscription includes access to the following services and features:

Tax-Ready Bookkeeping: You must connect your business accounts to QuickBooks in order for your Expert to be able to review and reconcile your books on a quarterly basis. The expert will update bookkeeping to be tax-ready on a quarterly basis, so the expert can calculate your quarterly tax payments and develop personalized tax advice. All advice and information made available by Expert 365 Business in connection with the bookkeeping service is based on the information you provide to Intuit or authorize Intuit to obtain from your banks and other third party platforms that sync data into our bookkeeping services, so it is important for you to make sure that information is complete and accurate. The bookkeeping service cannot be relied upon to discover errors, fraud deflections or other irregularities, should any exist.
Business Tax Advisory Sessions: You can meet with your Expert on a quarterly basis to obtain personalized tax planning recommendations based on your information provided.
Quarterly Expert Reviews: Your Expert will be available to meet with you at least once per calendar quarter to deliver quarterly tax estimates, and review and reconcile your books.
TurboTax Expert Full Service: TurboTax Experts are available to prepare 2026 tax returns starting January 5, 2027. One-day preparation and filing availability depends on start time, the complexity of your return, is based on completion time for the majority of customers, and may vary based on Expert availability. A tax preparation assistant will validate the customer’s tax situation during the welcome call and review uploaded documents to assess readiness and ability to file same-day. All tax forms and documents must be ready and uploaded by the customer for the tax preparation assistant to refer the customer to an available Expert for live tax preparation. The TurboTax Terms of Service apply to your use of TurboTax Expert Full Service and Expert 365 Business. As described more in those Terms, the following Guarantees apply to your use of TurboTax Expert Full Service: TurboTax Accurate Calculations Guarantee - Business Tax Returns, TurboTax Maximum Savings Guarantee - Business Tax Returns, and TurboTax Audit Support Guarantee - Business Tax Returns.

In addition to the above Expert 365 Business subscription features, you have access for 1 user license to the QuickBooks Simple Start product. QuickBooks Simple Start offers features such as receipt capture, tracking income and expense, tracking miles and running financial reports on any device (mobile and web). The cost of QuickBooks Simple Start is included in the displayed pricing, but this subscription is sold separately from Expert 365 Business. The QuickBooks Terms of Service apply to your use of QuickBooks Simple Start.

Cancelation: Expert 365 Business is billed on a monthly basis of $61, and QuickBooks Simple Start is billed on a monthly basis of $38, your subscription will automatically renew each month on your account’s billing date until you cancel. You may cancel your subscription at any time by navigating to the Account & Settings section of your Expert 365 Business account and selecting “Cancel.” You will not receive a pro-rated refund; your access and subscription benefits will continue for the remainder of the billing period.

Cancelation of your Expert 365 Business subscription will not impact your QuickBooks subscription. You will continue to receive all QuickBooks benefits and incur ongoing monthly charges until you separately cancel your QuickBooks subscription. Your Expert 365 Business subscription is dependent upon maintaining an active QuickBooks subscription. As a result, cancelation of your QuickBooks subscription will result in a concurrent cancelation of your Expert 365 Business subscription.

TURBOTAX DESKTOP GUARANTEES

TurboTax Desktop Individual Returns:

100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee - Individual Returns: If you pay an IRS or state penalty or interest because of a TurboTax calculation error, we'll pay you the penalty and interest. You are responsible for paying any additional tax liability you may owe. Excludes payment plans. This guarantee is good for the lifetime of your personal, individual tax return, which Intuit defines as seven years from the date you filed it with TurboTax Desktop. Excludes TurboTax Desktop Business returns. Additional terms and limitations apply. See License Agreement for details.
Maximum Refund Guarantee / Maximum Tax Savings Guarantee - or Your Money Back - Individual Returns: If you get a larger refund or smaller tax due from another tax preparation method by filing an amended return, we'll refund the applicable TurboTax federal and/or state software license purchase price you paid. You are responsible for paying any additional tax liability you may owe. This guarantee is good for the lifetime of your personal, individual tax return, which Intuit defines as seven years from the date you filed it with TurboTax Desktop. Excludes TurboTax Desktop Business returns. Additional terms and limitations apply. See License Agreement for details.
Audit Support Guarantee - Individual Returns: If you receive an audit letter from the IRS or State Department of Revenue based on your 2025 TurboTax individual tax return, we will provide one-on-one question-and-answer support with a tax professional, if requested through our Audit Support Center, for audited individual returns filed with TurboTax Desktop for the current 2025 tax year and, for individual, non-business returns, for the past two tax years (2023, 2024). Audit support is informational only. We will not represent you before the IRS or state tax authority or provide legal advice. If we are not able to connect you to one of our tax professionals, we will refund the applicable TurboTax federal and/or state license purchase price you paid. This guarantee is good for the lifetime of your personal, individual tax return, which Intuit defines as seven years from the date you filed it with TurboTax Desktop. Excludes TurboTax Desktop Business returns. Additional terms and limitations apply. See License Agreement for details.
Satisfaction Guarantee/ 60-Day Money Back Guarantee: If you're not completely satisfied with TurboTax Desktop software, go to refundrequest.intuit.com within 60 days of purchase and follow the process listed to submit a refund request. You must return this product using your license code or order number and dated receipt. Desktop add-on products and services purchased are non-refundable.

TurboTax Desktop Business Returns:

100% Accurate Calculations Guarantee - Business Returns: If you pay an IRS or state penalty or interest because of a TurboTax calculation error, we'll pay you the penalty and interest. You are responsible for paying any additional tax liability you may owe. Excludes payment plans. Additional terms and limitations apply. See License Agreement for details.
Maximum Tax Savings Guarantee - Business Returns: If you get a smaller tax due (or larger business tax refund) from another tax preparation method using the same data, TurboTax will refund the applicable TurboTax Desktop Business license purchase price you paid. Additional terms and limitations apply. See License Agreement for details.
Satisfaction Guarantee/ 60-Day Money Back Guarantee: If you're not completely satisfied with TurboTax Desktop software, go to refundrequest.intuit.com within 60 days of purchase and follow the process listed to submit a refund request. You must return this product using your license code or order number and dated receipt. Desktop add-on products and services purchased are non-refundable.

TURBOTAX DESKTOP DISCLAIMERS

Installation Requirements: Product download, installation and activation requires an Intuit Account and internet connection. Product limited to one account per license code. You must accept the TurboTax License Agreement to use this product. Not for use by paid preparers.
TurboTax Desktop Products: Price includes tax preparation and printing of federal tax returns and free federal e-file of up to 5 federal tax returns. Additional fees may apply for e-filing state returns. E-file fees may not apply in certain states, check here for details. Savings and price comparison based on anticipated price increase. Software updates and optional online features require internet connection. Desktop add-on products and services purchased are non-refundable.
Fastest Refund Possible: Get your tax refund from the IRS as fast as possible by e-filing and choosing to receive your refund by direct deposit. Tax refund time frames will vary. The IRS issues more than 9 out of 10 refunds in less than 21 days.
Average Refund Amount: $3,453 is the average refund amount American taxpayers received in the 2024 filing season based upon IRS data as of February 21, 2025 and may not reflect actual refund amount received. Each taxpayer's refund will vary based on their tax situation.
TurboTax Technical Support: Customer service and technical support hours and options vary by time of year.
Deduct From Your Federal or State Refund: Individual taxes only. Subject to eligibility requirements. Additional terms apply. A $40 Refund Processing Service fee applies to this payment method. Prices are subject to change without notice.
Data Import: Imports financial data from participating companies; Requires Intuit Account. Quicken and QuickBooks import not available with TurboTax installed on a Mac. Imports from Quicken (2023 and higher) and QuickBooks Desktop (2024); both Windows only. Quicken import not available for TurboTax Desktop Business. Quicken products provided by Quicken Inc., Quicken import subject to change.
Live Tax Advice: Access to tax experts to obtain answers to tax questions and to assist with tax year 2025 return(s) prepared with TurboTax Desktop software. Additional fees may apply. Must be purchased and used by October 31, 2026. Excludes TurboTax Desktop Business. See License Agreement for details.
Audit Defense: Audit Defense is a third-party add-on service provided, for a fee, by TaxResources, Inc., dba Tax Audit. See Membership Agreements at https://turbotax.intuit.com/corp/softwarelicense/ for service terms and conditions.

All features, services, support, prices, offers, terms and conditions are subject to change without notice.

Unless otherwise stated, strikethrough prices reflect anticipated late-season pricing (4/1–10/31; for S-corps & partnerships, 5/1–10/31).

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