What would be my correct tax filing status for 2023 if my divorce was finalized in July?

Your filing status is determined by your marital status on the last day of the tax year (December 31, 2023). Since your divorce was finalized in July 2023, you were legally single on December 31, so you would file as Single for the entire 2023 tax year. Even though you were married for part of the year, the IRS only cares about your status on that final day of the year. You cannot file as Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately because you were not legally married on December 31, 2023. The only exception would be if you have qualifying dependents - then you might qualify for Head of Household status, which offers better tax rates than Single. To qualify, you would need to pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home for yourself and a qualifying dependent.

Had a similar situation last year and was confused about my filing status after my divorce. I found this service called taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) that really helped me figure it out. You upload your documents or explain your situation, and they give you personalized tax guidance. In my case, I wasn't sure if I qualified for Head of Household or had to file as Single after my divorce. The tool analyzed my custody agreement and expenses, then confirmed I qualified for Head of Household which saved me about $2,000 compared to filing as Single. Their analysis included specific references to IRS rules that applied to my situation.

Just wanted to update about my experience with taxr.ai after my post above. I decided to try it with my complicated divorce/dependent situation, and I'm honestly impressed. The system identified that I could claim Head of Household even though my divorce wasn't finalized until September because I met the "considered unmarried" requirements. It also showed me exactly which IRS rules applied (Publication 501 specifically) and explained why I qualified. This was a huge help because my ex-spouse and I were both planning to claim the same filing status and dependents. Having documentation with citations to back up my position saved me from a potential audit headache.

If you're having trouble getting answers from the IRS about your filing status after divorce, try Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). After my divorce, I had questions about dependency exemptions that weren't covered clearly in my decree. Spent DAYS trying to get through to the IRS with no luck. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 15 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. The IRS agent confirmed I could file as Head of Household and explained exactly which parent could claim which child based on our custody arrangement. Totally worth it for the peace of mind.

Update: I feel really stupid for being so skeptical about Claimyr in my comment above. After another frustrating morning of failed IRS call attempts, I decided to try it. Within 45 minutes, I was literally talking to an IRS representative who answered all my post-divorce filing questions. The agent confirmed that since my divorce was finalized in August, I need to file as Single, not Married Filing Separately like my ex suggested. She also verified that with our current custody arrangement, I'm eligible to claim our youngest as a dependent while my ex claims our oldest. Wish I had done this months ago instead of stressing about it!

Something nobody's mentioned yet - if you qualified as "unmarried" for tax purposes before your actual divorce, you might have been able to file as Head of Household even earlier. According to IRS rules, you're "considered unmarried" if: 1) You file a separate return 2) You paid more than half the cost of keeping up your home 3) Your spouse didn't live in your home during the last 6 months of the year 4) Your home was the main home for your child for more than half the year 5) You can claim the child as a dependent Just throwing this out there because a lot of separated-but-not-divorced people don't realize this option exists!

Don't forget to check if your state has different rules than federal! I got divorced mid-year in 2022 and found out my state requires you to use the same filing status for state that you use for federal, but some states let you file differently. Almost messed this up and had to redo everything.