Choosing a Filing Status

Today's tax question comes from R. Cosner. He asks, "I am still married, but seperated from my wife. As of June 2005 I have had to pay maintenance to her monthly through court order. What is our tax filing status?"

Your filing status choices are fairly limited. Since you are not legally separated or divorced, you can choose:

• Married-filing-jointly, or
• Married-filing-separately.

Both options requires that you and your wife cooperate closely on your tax returns.

You did not mention any kids. If either of you have at least one dependent, you could choose the Head of Household filing status provided that you did not live together at any time during the last six months of 2005.

You both should seek out a competent tax professional for further advice. There's a number of tax issues that arise during divorce, and so you will want to protect yourself with solid tax advice. If at all possible, you should try to move into a more favorable filing status so you can continue taking advantage of various tax deductions and credits.

Throughout the tax season I will be answering one tax question per day. Do you have a question? Visit the Ask a Tax Question page. Disagree with my answers? Post your comments in the Tax Forum.