Form 5129 at a glance
What it is: Form 5129 is a questionnaire on filing status, exemptions, and standard deduction.
Who signs: If filing jointly, both must sign: Your Signature and Spouse's Signature.
A filled-in Form 5129 example: a married couple files jointly
How to fill out Form 5129, box by box
Section I. Taxpayer Data
Enter your name(s) and address exactly as shown on your income tax return, your Social Security Number, the Tax Form Number, your spouse's Social Security Number and the Tax Year Ending.
Section II. Filing Status and Standard Deduction
Check the appropriate box and answer the corresponding questions to show how you intended to file your tax return.
Check the box for Single, Married filing joint return, or Married filing separate return.
Under Married filing separate return, check Yes, No or Unknown: Did your spouse file a tax return for the tax year in Section I?
Under Married filing separate return, enter your spouse's Social Security Number in Section I and print your spouse's name as it appeared on that return.
Under Married filing separate return, check Yes or No: Did you and your spouse live together at any time during the last 6 months of the year?
Head of Household (with qualifying dependent)
Check Head of Household (with qualifying dependent) when, during the tax year, you provided more than half the cost of maintaining a household for a qualifying dependent.
Under Head of Household, if the qualifying person is your child, but is being claimed by the other parent, enter this child's name.
Under Head of Household, at the end of the tax year in Section I, check Unmarried, Widowed, Legally Separated or Married to a Nonresident Alien.
Under Head of Household, check: You claimed your married child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc., to include stepchild or adopted child who qualifies as your dependent; You claimed your foster child who is qualified as your dependent; or You claimed any other relative who is qualified as your dependent.
Under Head of Household, check: You claimed your married child, grandchild, great-grandchild, etc., adopted child, or stepchild who is not claimed as a dependent, due to your divorce or separation from the other parent who is claiming the child as a dependent.
Under Head of Household, check the household mentioned in Item 4a, above: Your household or The home you maintained for your parent who can be claimed as your dependent.
Under Head of Household, check Yes or No: Did you and your spouse live together at any time during the last 6 months of the tax year?
Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child
For Qualifying widow(er) with dependent child, fill in What year did your spouse die?
Section III. Exemptions for Dependents and Standard Deduction
Give complete information below for each person you claimed as a dependent on your return for the tax year shown in Section 1.
The names and Social Security Numbers you provide must be written as they appear on the Social Security Card(s) issued by the Social Security Administration.
If you need additional space or have made changes to any of these items, please use the back of this form to continue and/or explain your entries.
For each dependent, enter the First and Last Name, the Social Security Number and the Dependent's Relationship to You, and check the box if the dependent qualifies for Child Tax Credit.
Were you or your spouse 65 or over, blind or claimed as a dependent
Check Yes or No: Were you 65 or over at the end of the tax year shown in Section I? Were you blind at the end of the tax year?
Check Yes or No: Was your spouse 65 or older at the end of the tax year? Was your spouse blind at the end of the tax year? Did you intend to claim an exemption for your spouse? Did your spouse have any gross income for the tax year?
Check Yes or No: Can you be claimed as a dependent on another person's return for the tax year? Can your spouse be claimed as a dependent on another person's return for the tax year?
Sign here
Under penalties of perjury, you declare that you have examined this statement and to the best of your knowledge and belief, it is true, correct, and complete.
Sign on Your Signature and fill in the Date.
If filing jointly, both must sign: Your Signature and Spouse's Signature.
Sources
[1] Form 5129 (Rev. December 2007), Questionnaire-Filing Status, Exemptions, and Standard Deduction, Department of the Treasury-Internal Revenue Service (the Official source link on this page).