Married Filing Separately: Tax Question of the Day
Today's question comes from H. Hester in Georgia. She asks, "If you are married, can you file your taxes separately?"
Yes, married couples can file their tax returns separately from each other. You do this by choosing the "married filing separately" filing status on Form 1040 (box 3 on page one of Form 1040). Each spouse will file his and her own Form 1040. Each will also report the other spouse's Social Security Number at the top of the form, and will write-in the spouse's name in the area next to box 3.
There are some very good reasons for wanting to file separately. I detail those reasons in my article on Choosing Your Filing Status.
In general, married couples will have a lower overall tax bill if they file a joint return. Also, couples filing separately will lose out on a number of important tax breaks. Nonetheless, filing separate returns makes the most sense when one spouse owes a significant amount of money, but the other spouse could get a refund. It also makes sense when one spouse is cheating on their taxes, and the other spouse doesn't want to be involved.
Filing separate returns requires a great deal of cooperation and sharing. Both spouses must itemize or take the standard deduction. (They cannot split their tax strategies by one person itemizing and the other taking the standard deduction.) Also, there may be significant state tax issues if the couple lives in a community property state. In those nine states, spouses report their individual income on their federal return, but report half of their combined income on their state return. This makes filing separately a much more complicated process, and many couples seek out a tax professional to make sure all the returns are accurately prepared.
Because of these complexities, I sometimes advise couples who regularly file separate returns to get divorced. That way each spouse can file as single or perhaps head of household, and be placed in a more advantageous tax situation. That being said, couples rarely get married or divorced solely for tax reasons.
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Comments
what is my spouses liability if we file separately, and I owe but do not pay my taxes in full and do a payment plan.
If you file separate returns, you will each have a separate tax liability. If you owe the IRS and don’t pay, then your spouse will not be responsible for your tax debt. She would be responsible only for her own taxes.
how will the tax rebate be handled if my wife and I use the married filing separetly option
I just got married and I will be filing married this year. My new spouse has tax liabilities for previous years from filing single. We will be filing jointly this year. Do I inherit her previous tax liabilities?? How will it effect our joint tax return if we get a refund???
My wife and i file married separate even though we pay more federal tax, we pay significantly lower Ohio state tax. The net is about $600 better to file married separate. My wife’s income is about $95,000 and my income is about $45,000. Together our total income is about $145,00, less than the $150,000 threshold for receiving the full $1,200 tax rebate. My understanding is that if we file separately, my wife will not receive any rebate because she is over the individual threshold of $87,000. Will we have to forfeit $600 of the federal rebate because of Ohio’s tax rate which penalizes married couples, or will the IRS look at our total income in figuring the amount of rebate we are entitled to? Because we have to furnish each other’s social security numbers on our tax returns, would the IRS should calculate our rebate on the total of both our incomes? If we lived in a state with no income tax, or one that did not penalize married couples like Ohio does, we would file jointly/.
ANY SUGGESTIONS?
Dan: The rebate will be calculated based on your separate returns. So it sounds like you will get your rebate, but your wife won’t get her’s. She might then be able to claim a credit for any unpaid rebate on her ‘08 tax return.
I want to fill out married filing separately since we are not living together almost for 1 year, but I do not have her social security number and she does not want to give it to me, so what Could I do in this case?
Please
Antonio: If you ever filed a joint return (such as last year perhaps) look on that return to find her SSN. You might also have her SSN buried in some personal documents such as insurance policies or tax statements. If you still cannot find it, file the return on paper. Where it asks for her SSN write “see attached” and then attach a note explaining how you asked her for her SSN but she didn’t want to give it to you.
our daughter filed my wife as her dependent. I receive a disability check from government. If I file a tax return with the disability income, will I get a rebate check.