What's the Difference Between Married Filing Jointly and Qualifying Surviving Spouse?

Qualifying surviving spouse and married filing jointly are two filing statuses that use the same tax brackets and standard deduction, but they apply to very different situations. Married filing jointly is for people who were legally married on the last day of the tax year — both spouses typically sign the return, though a surviving spouse can file jointly in the year of death. Qualifying surviving spouse is available for the two years after your spouse died, if you haven't remarried and you have a qualifying dependent child living with you and you paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home. In the year of death, you can still file married filing jointly using your deceased spouse's information. After that, qualifying surviving spouse preserves the advantageous married tax rates for two more years before you're required to switch to head of household or single status.