Married Filing Separately

Check the “Married filing separately” box in the Filing Status section on page 1 of Form 1040 or 1040-SR if you are married at the end of 2025 and file a separate return. Enter your spouse’s name in the entry space. Be sure to enter your spouse’s SSN or ITIN in the space for spouse’s SSN on Form 1040 or 1040-SR. If your spouse doesn’t have and isn’t required to have an SSN or ITIN, enter “NRA” in the entry space.

For electronic filing, enter the spouse’s name or “NRA” if the spouse doesn’t have an SSN or ITIN in the entry space.

If you are married and file a separate return, you generally report only your own income, deductions, and credits. Generally, you are responsible only for the tax on your own income. Different rules apply to people in community property states; see Pub. 555.

However, you will usually pay more tax than if you use another filing status for which you qualify. Also, if you file a separate return, you can’t take the deduction for qualified tips, the deduction for qualified overtime, the enhanced senior deduction, the student loan interest deduction, or the education credits, and you will only be able to take the earned income credit and child and dependent care credit in very limited circumstances. You also can’t take the standard deduction if your spouse itemizes deductions. For situations when you might want to file separately, see Joint and several tax liability , earlier.

You may be able to file as head of household if you had a child living with you and you lived apart from your spouse during the last 6 months of 2025. See Married persons who live apart, later.