- Your filing status depends on your marital status on the last day of the year: If you complete the divorce process Dec. 31, the IRS requires you file as either single or "head of household." If you're divorcing temporarily solely to change your filing status and plan to remarry, you have to file as married. You qualify as head of household -- which usually results in lower taxes than filing as single -- if you paid more than half the year's cost for keeping up a home, and you have a dependent living with you more than half the year.
- The law doesn't allow two divorced spouses to both claim their child or children as dependents. Usually the child's custodial parent gets to claim the dependent on her tax return, but there are exceptions. The child must meet all the other IRS qualifications for a dependent, such as living more than half the year with the person claiming him. You can't claim a child as a dependent if he filed a joint return with someone else, or if they provide more than half their own support for the year.
- If the divorce involves you paying your spouse alimony, this also affects your taxes: You can deduct alimony on your 1040 even if you don't itemize, while your spouse has to report it as taxable income. If you pay child support, you can't deduct it and your spouse doesn't pay taxes on it. You can't deduct alimony, HR Block states, if you share a household with your spouse after the divorce or the money is treated as child support.
- Rather than dividing your assets based solely on the dollar value, consider the effect on your taxes. If your spouse receives a $30,000 investment account and you receive a $30,000 individual retirement account, you won't have any taxes to pay on the account until you start withdrawing money. Or consider capital gains taxes: If you sell your house before the divorce, you can exempt twice as much of the capital gains from taxes than if one of you gets the house and sells it as a single person.
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