Single
An employee is considered single if:
- legally separated under a decree of divorce or separate maintenance, or
- either he or his spouse was a non-resident alien on any preceding day within the calendar year.
The death of a spouse does not necessarily qualify the employee for single status.
Married
Married employees must indicate their status on Form W-4 (Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate) to take advantage of the lower withholding afforded married employees. (See W-4 Marital Status for eligibility.) If the Form W-4 fails to show that an employee is married, the employer must withhold according to the single employee tables.
An employee whose spouse has died during the year may continue to claim married status for that year. An employee whose spouse died in either of the two preceding taxable years may claim married status if:
- the employee's home is maintained as the main household of a child or stepchild for whom the employee can claim an exemption, and
- the employee could file a joint return with his spouse in the year of the spouse's death.
Married, but withhold at higher single rate
Married couples with both spouses employed or a married employee with more than one employer may elect to have his federal withholding computed at the single rate to increase the amount of income tax withheld.
Head of household
An employee may claim head of household status on his federal individual income tax return only if he is unmarried and pays more than 50% of the cost of keeping up a home for himself and one or more of his dependents or other qualifying individual. Persons claiming head of household status are to complete Form W-4 as "single."
