Tax Question: Getting Married

[GiovanniC]

Okay, so on December 31 of this year, I will be getting married to a wonderful woman with four beautiful children. I am single without any children (that I know of... ba dum bum).

Here is my question: since we are getting married in 2005, will we have to file as married next year on our '05 taxes, even though we will only have been married for a few hours of this year? Will we have the option of filing as either single OR married?

She makes about $18,000 a year, and I make about $32,000 a year. Currently, she gets all her taxes back plus some. In general terms, wouldn't it be more beneficial if we filed as single for the 2005 tax year? Anyone know?