So, naturally, the question often arises as to which filing status is better? One reader emailed me to ask,
"Ok, now for my situation: I want to understand the differences between filing Married vs. filing Married Separately. Prior to this year my status was always filing Single. Got married this past year and need to understand the larger implications. We have 2 houses we need to claim and I am a current MBA student and will need to file deductions for tuition paid out of pocket."In this situation, filing a joint return will produce the least amount of federal tax liability. That's because there's a long list of deductions that are denied under the married filing separate status. Most important, separate filers are not eligible for any of the education tax breaks, such as the tuition and fees deduction, and the Hope or Lifetime Learning tax credits. And since this reader is an MBA student, the couple will likely be able to take advantage of these tax breaks on their jointly filed return.
But there's another aspect that should be kept in mind. By filing jointly, you accept joint and several liability for the taxes. So that means if you file a return with a balance due, both spouses be held responsible for paying it, even if the balance is the result of only one person's actions. They will also both be responsible if there's an audit down the road. With that in mind, I recommend filing separately when one spouse owes but the other would get a refund, or where one spouse is cheating on their taxes and the other rightly wants nothing to do with that. I also recommend filing separately if the spouses are estranged, when they are contemplating or in the processing of divorcing, or when they simply cannot agree on how to report their income and deductions.
I've seen these situations often enough where taking a bit of the tax hit now by filing a separate return can actually prevent years of heartache down the road.
I am a practicing tax preparer and was wondering about your opinion on the injured spouse form. Married filing jointly is advantageous to all couples, unless one of them has debt as described above, however, wouldn’t the form for an injured spouse help eliminate the debt of the spouse from reducing the amount of the refund? I ask because I always try to do what will be most beneficial for the client, and married filing separate seldom is.
Chris, you make an excellent point. In general, filing jointly is usually more advantageous. However I was thinking of a very specific incident that I encountered last year. A couple filed jointly (and their tax was lower) but they still owed tax. Subsequently one spouse skipped the country and now the other spouse is stuck paying the tax bill. In other words, if a couple is thinking about separating, it might be worthwhile to consider filing separately just to get separate tax liabilities. And in this particular situation, the IRS has been denying innocent spouse relief, which is coming as an unfortunate shock to us.
I recently went through a divorce after having been married for more than 30 years. My ex took care of our finances as well as taxes. He was an auditor,finance director,assistant city manager and is a ph.d in business management. I raised our children and trusted him. He didn’t pay three years of taxes which I didn’t know about until receiving a letter from the IRS and State during my divorce proceedings. I applied through the innocent spouse division of the State and IRS. An amazing amount of information to pull together and prepare. Right up to the date of my final divorce decree the State granted my being given relief. The IRS has not. I am preparing to have an arbitration interview in the near future and am hoping that they will grant me relief as well. My ex even provided them a letter stating that I am not responsible for those tax years and that I was not privy to his decisions regarding our taxes and finances. I do not have much faith in the IRS presently because the Federal Gov. is in deep financial trouble and no one is going to be given any consideration-whatsoever. Every situation is very unique and different. I could hardly believe that the State of CA granted my relief and I am posting this as an encouragement to others who may find themselves in a similar situation- It is worth the effort. The Innocent Spouse division of the State of California were very thoughtful and kind and helpful as well………..Good Luck.
If you live in a community property state like california filing injured spouce form even if your spouce owed money before you were married they will take half even if you were the only person who had income i went thru that two years back they took all of my refund i was the only one who had income and the debt was 15 years before we got married best bet this year for me is to file married filing seperate i shoild not be affected
I have a married couple who owns a house, have their own children as well as out of work inlaws/kids living with them. Can they file separately, so that one can claim the house/kids and the other the inlaws/kids?
Anita, the couple may file either separately or jointly. If they file separately, both must itemize or both must take the standard deduction. Thus if they file separately and one spouse takes all the deductions for the house, then the other spouse will have to itemize too (even if his or her itemized deductions is zero). Further, if they live in a community property state, each spouse must separate the income and deductions according to their state’s community property laws. Alternatively, they may file jointly.
I have a guy friend who got married in June 2010..and filed for divorce on October 2010. Their divorce is not until March. She wants him to filing jointly..but he’s going to owe the IRS. He told her this. So that would make her half responsible for the amount owed to the IRS…correct?
With a joint tax return, each spouse is held individually responsible for the accuracy of the tax return and for the payment of the joint tax liability. If they file separately, the spouses will be held responsible for the accuracy of their own separate return and the payment of their separate tax liability. Whether this is advantageous or not depends on the situation. From my own experience, if a couple is contemplating separation or divorce it’s usually better to file separately, even if it’s more expensive, since that reduces the risk exposure of one spouse to the financial matters relating to the other spouse.
CAN I CLAIM MY HUSBAND IF WE FILE SEPARATE RETURNS AND WILL I BE LIABLE FOR HIS BILL IF HE OWES FEDERAL TAXES?
I am retired on social security with a small pension and income from a property I own prior to marriage. I have appropriate income tax taken out of my pension check. My wife works plus has a public employee’s pension from earlier service. She has had about 5% of the gross income of $40,000 withheld from these two sources for income tax purposes. I had advised her several times to increase the withholding amount, and I am concerned that if we file jointly again that I may be responsible for a considerable tax obligation she refuses to take responsibility for. If I file separately, am I certain that I will not be held in any way responsible for the taxes due on her earned income? I am considering separation. [My wife's gross income is slightly lower than mine. I see none of her income. I pay 75% of our mortgage, taxes, insurance, utilities, and food. She pays 25%].
Jack, you are wise to seek a lawyer now even while married. I’m in a divorce following the same or similiar situation, a 2 to 1 larger income than my (ex)wife, and left with paying a portion of her taxes she never had witheld during the tax year. So I kept the returns. Now her attorney has advised her to file seperate since she is is getting all the assets and I’m ending up with all the liablities and risk. I”m much younger, not retired, and have minimum of 10 years income earning potential and shes ready to give up and retire now. You could also start filing separate now and make her pay her own now, teach her a lesson! Sorry, I”m bitter about it after 6 years of struggle to build a finacial empire with a dead weight spouse who is supported by extended family attitudes like “let him support you”, and ” you don’t need to go to school to get a better paying job”, and “take him for all he’s worth”. YOu’re right, it’s not financially fair. And by the way its not very fair in the love department either! It ruined my marriage.
My husband and I are married. We have a house, Child, Daycare expenses. This year will be the first year we get close to nothing back because of how we had deductions at work. Can I let him claim house, child, daycare, file the taxes, get the refund and then file mine with no deductions and use part of the refund to pay what I will owe? If we file together we will prob get like 50 bucks back, if we do the option i described it will be close to 500. Is the option I am purposing illegal? or is it just a way around tax law? I just want to do the right thing, without owing. Also, we bought our house in 2008 and got the 7500 credit that has to be repaid over 15 yrs. We refinanced in October, do we still have to pay that back? yes right?
My husband and I are separating, but we still live in the same house. I am planning to move & attend college in the fall. Should we file our taxes jointly or separately? I want to file separately because I believe I will get more money for school; however, there seem to be a lot of drawbacks to filing separately. We have one minor son.
I am currently engaged. My fiance and his ex owe back taxes. If we get married this year, how should we file for taxes next year so I won’t end up paying for what they owe, since I always get tax refunds? Please advise.
my husband and I have always filed jointly. However, this last year I retired, and he is not. Our AGI this year is $190K, $140K of which was my husband’s. Because of that amount, our tax preparer says that we cannot deduct our son’s college at all, nor any of our medical expenses. Does it make sense to file separately and he claims our son?
Deductions and tax credits related to college are not available for couples who file separately. They also aren’t available to higher income people either. The only other aspect I can think of to get some benefit out of the college expenses is to see if you son qualifies to be independent, and thus he would take his own deduction or credit for the tuition expense.
Hi,
I have been married since march this year. My husband moved in AFTER we got married (29th march 2011). I have been working for the past 1.5yrs and earnt $21,000 and my husband has only been working since march 2011 (started 1 week prior to getting married).
I have 2 children NOT to my husband who live with us.
Should be file our tax TOGETHER or SEPERATE?
I am thinking about getting married but I do not want to be responsible for my boyfriend’s child support debt. He has been unemployed for a few months so he is behind on paying and I was told that if we get married that will become my debt as well. Is this correct? would I just have to file my taxes separately?
Thank you.
I got married in October of 2011. For the past seven years, as a single parent of two, I claimed head of household and received money back. My new husband has requested to file a joint return but I don’t feel that would be financially benefical for us. He has two children and has mortgage interest to file. Other than that, he has no deductions and claimed more exemptions through the year than he will on his year end taxes. Since we have only been married for two months, can I claim head of household on mine and he claim head of household on his? Or will we have to both file “married filing separately”?
Thanks,
Wendy, since you were married in October, you are considered married for the whole year. If you reside together, you’re only options are Married-Filing-Jointly or Married-Filing-Separately.
My spouse was in jail for 7 months in 2011. He has court fines that can be pulled from tax refunds. He is out, with us, but may not be in the near future. I’m thinking filing separately will protect my tax refund from being charged with his fines – correct?
Me and my husband got married Nov 20th. Do we need to file our taxes together for the following year since we were only married a month in a half?? I have a son from previous marriage. Wich way would better fit us.
Jamie, if you are married as of December 31st, then you are married for the whole year for tax purposes. Your options are to file jointly or separately.
HELP I recently got married on 11 11 11 and its now almost 3 months i would perfer to fiel seperatly this last time but dont know if Im allowed I do have one child 14 and my husband has no kids he didnt have steady job in beginning of year and 2weeks before we got married he landed a Great job with lots more pay ..
Leticia, you can always file as married-filing-separately. There’s nothing wrong about that, and you can decide each year whether to file jointly or separately with your spouse.
hi. I been always filling jointly. My wife worked last year and never payed federal tax, and i did pay all my taxes. Last year we had same situation and we end up paying back. Should we fill out separetly this year?
My sister has been separated from her husband for 2 years now in Texas. They have always filed a join tax return w/their 3 children, but this year he refuses to file with her and he doesn’t give her any financial support. Since they are separated and can prove it, can my sister file as Head of Household and claim all her kids OR does she have no choice but to file as Married filing Separately? He said he is going to file as single. Is this allowed? Thank you for your help!!!
My husband is self emplpyed contractor, I work and pay monthly taxes with 2 exemptions, he wants me to file as married Filing Jointly, and he pays quarterly taxes, but I feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick by paying my share and he is using mine and then pays what’s left. Would it be beneficial for me to file as married, filing separate?
I married for the second time in Dec., 2010. At the time, I own a home and had shared annunities with my deceased husband;therefore I was advised to file separately. I have until recently not changed my name, my name is NOT ON THE DEED TO HIS HOME, WE do not share bank accounts, we do not benefit from eithers income. tHE SECOND HUSBAND PAYS ALL THE REAL ESTATE TAXES, AND UTILITIES. wE DO NOT EVEN SHARE HEALTH INSURANCES. I have my own investments’which he does not share. Would it not be best if we continue to file separate?
Darlene, married couples may choose to file separately or may choose to file jointly. It’s a choice in either case, and there are no wrong answers.
My wife works part time as a substitute teacher and gets paid for days she works. She has retirement benefits from work but since she worked just about 30 days in 2011, the total contribution to retirement account is insignificant. We have traditional IRAs for both of us and we’ve put in $5000 each. We don’t qualify for Roth as the income is above the limit. We’re not getting any deductions on our traditional IRAs since my wife has a retirement account at work.
If we file separately, can we get the IRA deductions on at least one of the returns?
I was just married in October. However we still lived in our respective homes through January. She owns and I own. Do we file married filing jointly or married filing separately? Can we both deduct home mortgage interest and taxes?
Our biggest deductions are our homes (interest and property taxes)
My husband was unemployed for 2011 and when he got fired in December 2010, he had borrowed money from his 401k. Had 15K in his 401k and used all that money. He received unemployment and they took out 10 percent. I don’t want to file Married with him for my taxes because I’m afraid that his financial issues will leave me with owning the government money. I want to file Married by filed separately so that if I do receive an income back I will be able to send my daughter to summer camp. Since that’s what we had used the money in the past for.
I got married in May 2011 and filled jointly… last year i applied for financial aid with my 2010 tax return with my income of less than $15,000 and received a pell grant of $5,500… I never attended school but decided to do so like a week ago and submitted all of my information again with with my married jointly tax return of a total income gross amount of $28, 864 and only received a pell grant of $2,100.. His income was $17,468 and mine was only $11, 396 .Would it be better to file jointly or separate for school related purposes such ass receiving more money through a pell grant and more money for school that i wouldn’t have to pay back
Maria, you may want to direct your question to your school’s financial aid department. There’s an article over at About College Savings on how pell grants are determined.
My husband and I got married last summer. I have a lot of graduate school loan debt. He owns a very valuable rental property with his parents that we don’t live in. I am worried that if we file jointly, his property will effect my monthly loan payments. They are very high as it is. Should we file separately or together?
I got married in 2011. My husband was living in his own house before we met and I was living in my own condo. Being Single, we each use to get a refund of about $4000. Since there are two properties involved, do you think it would be best to file married filing separate so we can each claim our own housing expenses? Currently, my sister is living in my condo.
My husband and I got married on Dec. 17th. Should we file our taxes separately because we were single and maintaining separate households for most of the year or does it not matter?
Emily, if you are married on the last day of the year (December 31st) then you are married for the entire year, at least for tax purposes. Your filing status options are married-filing-jointly, married-filing-separately, or head of household if you have a closely-related dependent and you did not live with your spouse for the last six months of the year.
My fiance’s divorce was final this month but he has been seperated from his wife for 4 years and lived with elderly parents to help take care of them during that time. His ex cheats on her taxes and he does not want to be held accountable for her misgivings. Can he file married filing seperately?
Yes, Trish, your fiancee can file separately. In fact, that’s exactly what I would recommend in his situation.
Hi – I’ve been married for 4 years have 2 toddlers and have not seen a penny in return since I had them. My husband owes almost $100,000 in back taxes and penalties. We are going to separate. My question is can I file separate taxes and clair head of house hold and my kids if we don’t live together?
Carol, you can always file separately and in fact that’s what I would recommend in your situation. Whether you qualify for head of household depends on your living situation. You need to live in a separate residence apart from your husband for at least the last six months of the year to qualify for Head of Household.
Hi — my husband and I have been married six years and seem to always have to pay in. He is divorced and has two kids, of which, he gets to claim one. This child turned 17 in November so we lost the Child Tax Credit of $1,000, but still get his exemption. The only other major deduction we have is mortgage interest. Between State and Federal, we are looking at owing about $1,100. I make quite a bit more money than my husband, and also work a part-time job. Do you think it would make sense for us to file separately with me claiming the mortgage interest, and him claiming his son? I have another question as it relates to the 17 year old, and am not sure if this is the correct forum for this or not, but if he turns 18 in November (and will still be in high school), and my husband pays support all the way through December, will we still be able to claim him next year? Thanks for any advice you can give!
My wife and I were married earlier this year. I have tax liability from years prior to our marriage. If we file jointly, will that make her partially liable for my back taxes? Thanks.
My fiance and are are debating how we will need to file taxes next year. He owes almost $30,000 in Child Support Arrears… He does not claim either child, as they are claimed by their mothers. Should we file Married Filing Separately, and take the tax hit? And if we file that way, should we both have more money taken out for taxes throughout the year, as I’ve always received a tax refund and want to continue to. Do you also recommend that I file an Injured Spouse form as well, so that my soon to be husband’s debt does not become my responsibility?
Thank you for your guidance.