Married Filing Jointly

You can check the “Married filing jointly” box in the Filing Status section on page 1 of Form 1040 or 1040-SR if any of the following apply.

You were married at the end of 2025, even if you didn’t live with your spouse at the end of 2025.

Your spouse died in 2025 and you didn’t remarry in 2025.

You were married at the end of 2025 and your spouse died in 2026 before filing a 2025 return.

A married couple filing jointly report their combined income and deduct their combined allowable expenses on one return. They can file a joint return even if only one had income or if they didn’t live together all year. However, both persons must sign the return. Once you file a joint return, you can’t choose to file separate returns for that year after the due date of the return.

Joint and several tax liability.

If you file a joint return, both you and your spouse are generally responsible for the tax and interest or penalties due on the return. This means that if one spouse doesn’t pay the tax due, the other may have to. Or, if one spouse doesn’t report the correct tax, both spouses may be responsible for any additional taxes assessed by the IRS. You may want to file separately if:

You believe your spouse isn’t reporting all of their income, or

You don’t want to be responsible for any taxes due if your spouse doesn’t have enough tax withheld or doesn’t pay enough estimated tax.

Nonresident aliens and dual-status aliens.

Generally, a married couple can’t file a joint return if either spouse is a nonresident alien at any time during the year. However, you and your spouse can choose to be treated as U.S. residents for the entire year and file a joint return if one spouse was a nonresident alien at the end of the tax year (the nonresident spouse) and the other was a U.S. citizen or resident at the end of the tax year. This choice remains in effect in subsequent years until terminated. You and your spouse can also choose to file as U.S. residents for the entire year if both of you are U.S. citizens or residents at the end of the year and either (or both) of you were a nonresident at the beginning of the year (the dual-status spouse(s)). You can only make this choice for 1 year, and it does not apply to any future years.

If you and your spouse are making either of these choices to be treated as U.S. residents for 2025, check the box in the Filing Status section and enter the name of the nonresident spouse or dual-status spouse(s) (whichever applies to you) in the entry space. Also check the box and enter their name if you and your nonresident spouse made the choice to be treated as residents in a prior year and the choice remains in effect.

To make either choice for 2025, you and your spouse must file a joint return and attach a statement, signed by both spouses, to your return. To find out what information must be included in the statement, as well as more information on these choices, see Nonresident Spouse Treated as a Resident for nonresident aliens and Choosing Resident Alien Status for dual-status aliens in Pub. 519.