Knowing your tax filing status helps you determine the right amount of tax you need to pay.
It also notifies your employee regarding how much amount to withhold for taxes from your paycheck.
Singapore tax system facilitates five filing statuses, depending on your current marital status – Single, Head of Household, Married Filing Separately, Married Filing Jointly, and Qualifying Widow(er).
Tax filling following the death of your spouse
Following the death of your spouse, you must verify your eligibility for widow(er) status.
Qualifying Widow(er) status in Singapore provides you with the benefit to file under Married Filing Jointly status for two fiscal years following your spouse’s demise.
Under Married Filing Jointly, you enjoy tax credits, the larger standard deduction and lower tax rates for combined annual income.
However, you should have a dependent child to be eligible for the provisions.
Eligibility criteria
The eligibility criteria for qualifying widow(er) tax filing status are –
- You availed for joint filing with your spouse during the fiscal year your spouse died.
- During the two years following your spouse’s demise, you did not remarry.
- You have a dependent child or stepchild to make a claim.
- The child primarily resides with you all year, barring any temporary absences.
- You are keeping a home with your child for which you paid more than half the total cost. These expenses include food, rent, mortgage interest, insurance, utilities, maintenance, etc.
You are eligible for the widow(er) filing status if you satisfy all the requirements.
After two years
On concluding the two years after your spouse’s death, your qualifying widow(er) status is no longer prevalent.
You may remarry and continue filing tax returns under the Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately tax status.
Your status is single or head of household, depending on your eligibility in case you do not remarry.
Some exceptional cases
Some exceptional cases arise while addressing unique circumstances regarding the dependent child, including –
- Temporary absences – Brief durations of staying away from each other still make you eligible under the widow(er) filing status. Your child may have been out for school, military services or business needs while committed to returning once the duration elapses.
As long as you are keeping up with expenses at home, temporary absences are not a problem.
- Birth or death of the child – If the dependent child was born or died during the financial year, you are eligible for the status if you have maintained the cost of keeping the home.
The child must have stayed at the address while they were alive.
- Kidnapped child – You are eligible for the tax status of your child lived with you for more than half of the ongoing year, and you satisfy the remaining criteria.
Law enforcement must rule that any family member did not commit the kidnapping.
Find out more about your tax filing status and Form 1040 Tax Return from our website. Fill-up the form and learn more about applicable tax rates and deduction amounts.
