My wife and I were married in late Oct. of this year, how do we file our taxes?

Question

Are we required to file as married or do we file as single...if married would it be better to file jointly or seperately?

Answer 1

If you're married, then you're married; you can no longer file as two single people. As a matter of fact, even if you were married on the last day of December, rather than in October, you would file the returns as married people.

You do have options as to filing status; you can file as married and filing separately, or as married, filing jointly. There are reasons for considering and using either; in some cases, the choice will depend, for example, on whether you have a pre-nuptial agreement treating assets as separate property, and so on, or whether there is an advantage to be found in filing one way or the other if incomes are widely disparate, etc.

Answer 2

Jointly is usually better. There is no reason to file seperately unless you have a reason to keep things seperate, such as property owned before the marriage, prior tax or student debt, child support etc.

Answer 3

You aren't required to file as married, but it would benefit you to do so. You can either file married filing jointly, or married filing separately.
To find out which way would benefit you the best-fill out the papers using each option. Choose the one that works the best for you.
Good luck, and Happy Hollidays.

Answer 4

It's your choice weather to file jointly, or separately, usually you get a better return, filing jointly, [there is a tax break for marriage].

Answer 5

Your status is determined by the last day of the year, so no, you are not allowed to file single. You can file married, separately, or married, joint. Joint almost always gives you a better deal, but you can figure it both ways if you want to, and take whichever turns out better.