when filing your income taxes can you claim your husband /wife?

Question

if they are working. we also have 1 child, we have both worked all year at the same job. last year i think we filed seperate, we was also married then. so should we file joint or spereate this year and can one of us claim all three. we go to H&R block but just would like others opion on the best way to get more back!

Answer 1

Being an employee at H&R Block, I know that the software we use allows us to enter your and your spouse's tax information into the computer and figure out if it is better to file Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married Filing Separate (MFS). Like Waggy said, it is rare to be in a better tax situation when filing MFS rather than MFJ especially when children are involved. Besides, it usually costs more to file two tax returns rather than one. The benefit for MFS would have to be more than $100 better than MFJ to justify two tax returns.

Therefore, I want you to be sure you did file as MFS and not as Single or as Head of Household. Most people who say we filed "Separately" don't mean "Married Filing Separately", but instead simply mean they filed separate returns. One might have been "Single" and the other might have been "Head of Household". If this is what you mean, be advised that if you are married as of the last day of the year, you can NOT file as "Single". If you lived together at any time during the last 6 months of the year, you also can NOT file as "Head of Household" (HOH). These violate IRS laws. So, if you were married on or before December 31st, 2005 and lived together for at least one day from July 1st, 2005 until December 31st, 2005 AND you or your spouse filed as Single or HOH, you are best advised to go back to the people who did your tax return and let them know the situation and have them do an amended return for you. You may owe or you may get a refund.

If you both sat down with the H&R preparer and they said "You would save taxes by filing MFS instead of MFJ", then they are probably being honest. Would it hurt to have someone else verify the information? No, but don't pay too much for the verification. In fact, you could, for free, go to the local district H&R office (bring all your 2005 tax information) and tell them your situation. Tell them the preparer said it is better to file MFS over MFJ and you want them to show you the special MFJ vs. MFS screen that shows this information. They can do this rather quickly. This assumes you both did indeed file MFS in 2005. If either of you filed as Single or as HOH and you were not legally single or HOH, you need to do what I said earlier and file an amended return. H&R will do this for free and pay any penalties and interest if it was their mistake. If you clearly informed the preparer that you were married and did not live apart for the 2nd half of the year, then either the tax preparer is really dumb or they intentionally filed an incorrect tax return. If you never told them you were married, you still need to file the amended return, but now you are responsible for the penalties and interest (if any) to amend the return.

Bottom line, if you are married, it is very rare (especially with kids) to be better off filing MFS rather than MFJ.

As far as claiming someone, if you are married and file MFJ, you automatically get each other's exemption and should not claim each other as dependents. If you file separate returns, one of you will claim the child as a dependent and the other will claim no one as a dependent.

Answer 2

The first choice you have is married filing jointly. This is usually the lowest tax amount for married couples. There are rare cases where married filing separately works better but your tax preparer should be able to show you the tax calculated both ways.
You might want to have a different preparer review last years returns to see which method yields the lowest tax, If filing jointly is best then you can amend the returns to elect to file jointly. However, you never can elect to amend your returns to go from joint to separate.
When choosing a tax preparer ask about experience. The more years preparing returns the better. You can't learn the law in a four week tax class.

Answer 3

You almost always come out better filing jointly rather than separately. People sometimes file separately if one thinks the other is hiding something and doesn't want to be liable for it. There are rare circumstances where filing as married filing separately is better, but usually not. If you file separately, then you'd each claim yourselves, and either one of you but not both would claim your child. If you file separately, some credits that you might otherwise be eligible for are reduced or eliminated. Unless you specifically requested it, if H&R Block made out your taxes as filing separately last year, they should explain to you why they did so.

If your total income between you is under around $40,000, find a VITA site near you to have your taxes done. VITA is a program where trained volunteers will do your taxes at no charge. Look at the IRS website irs.gov, and type VITA into the search box, to find a site.

Answer 4

Professional help is adviseable because over the internet certain pertinent informaton may not be availabe. Having said that, generally if you are married and lived with yourhusband for over 186 (or there about) days, you can file your return as married and filing jointly.
There are circumstances when you can file separate but still living w/your husband e.g. if he was not there for more than 180 days.
In such cases you file as headhold in which case you may claim him and the child as dependants.
Specifics will beneccessaru to answer you more precisely, but whoever you see, ask the right questions ; when can I claim my husband? When do i get Child income credit? When do i file as married and filing separate? and so on.

Good luck

Answer 5

Before you do anything contact the IRS and research the info!

You should also contact your accountant who have done your taxes in the past.

It would be wise to get an expert's opinion before you make any decisions.....

Answer 6

If he became into alive in some element of 2009, then their joint return would be dealt with the comparable as though he became into nevertheless alive. i don't be attentive to what the specifics are on your divorce decree.