Husband and I are seperated, have been for years. He didn't file in 2004!!!?

Question

I file head of household, as so does he, but not in 2004. Can that come back on me? What should he do. I still care for him and don't want to see him jailed or something.

Answer 1

The only thing you need to do is be able to show that you are living seperate from him and that you two are no longer together. Keep all personal records pertaining to you rent or mortage payment to show that YOU paid them. Also be prepaired to give any information you have as to his living arrangements. I have a friend who went thru something very similar. When the IRS contacted her, she needed only to prove that he WAS NOT living with her and that she maintained a seperate household than his.
As far as him...there isn't much you can do. He made his decision, not you. Look out for you, or you will be going along for his ride.

Answer 2

As long as you don't do something like claim the same child on your returns, then his is separate from yours and you shouldn't have any problem relating to his return.

If you do claim the same child, then yes, both returns would be flagged, and the IRS would contact both of you to find out the child's living situation to determine who gets the exemption, and who has to pay back the IRS for the erroneous claim. Unless there's a written agreement to the contrary, the custodial parent will get the exemption.

If he didn't file in 2004, and made enough income to be required to file, then eventually the IRS will likely catch up with him, but interest and penalties are much more likely than a jail term, as long as he's reasonably cooperative. If he didn't owe anything, then there wouldn't even be interest or penalties.

Answer 3

If you qualify to file as Head of Household (probably because you have one or more children living with you), then it is irrelevant to you whether or not your husband files a tax return. Your taxes are in no way tied to his.

He won't go to jail for not having filed a 2004 return. He is merely late. If he doesn't file soon and was due a refund, he will forfeit the refund. If he owes taxes, he now also owes interest and penalties.

Your husband does need to make sure he qualifies as Head of Household -- and giving you money, no matter how much, will NOT qualify him. That is the issue for which he has the greatest exposure to IRS interest. If he does not qualify, he must file as Married Filing Separately.

Answer 4

Well you have some choices. And this sort of thing has happened to me.

1st the IRS has guidelines to protect spouses in cases where one may have committed an act of fraud or some other violation but where the other can prove they were unaware or otherwise innocent. However this really does not seem to apply in your case (consult your tax professional or attorney for a good answer though!)

2nd here's what happened in my case and yes this can come back to haunt you and him 100%. Please work together. My ex-wife filed separately and claimed my daughter one year that I filed late AFTER she told me that she would not so this. Fortunately she is a good and decent person and after I called her on it here's what we worked out. She is a good person but made a mistake and we worked it out. It helps that she has been good to me in the past and I still care about her as well.

I asked her to file an ammended return and I covered the difference that she and her new husband had to pay. I then filed claiming our daughter as in our case I was legally able to do. I did this since my income was far greater than her and her husband's and the tax credit for me was so much more than for her. In other words her filing without claiming our daughter was only about $1200 difference and for me it was more than double the difference on my return and I was after legally able to claim my daughter and head of household.

Yor situation may be different but it's best to work together even if you are separated. At the end of the day most people are decent and there's no reason not to at least try. In the long run I'm sure that your act will be appreciated and there may be a time when you need his help again.

Your husband needs to file or they will eventually penalize him for not doing so. It may take years but at some point they will. he should find a good tax person to help him. thsi can be done cheaply too. there isan insurance group for this called ARAG Group. i use them they only cost about $20/month or less and the company I work for provides them as an insurance option you can buy the same thing on their website for the same cost. I've used them for years.

Finally if you don't work with him and he files claiming the same status you will both probably be audited under current guidelines. At the very least you will both have your returns flagged into the IRS Quality Review process.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

If you are entitled to file head of household, his taxes have nothing to do with your taxes. The only way it can fall back on you is if he files a contradictory return (i.e., claiming head of household or dependent deductions for the same children you claim).

Answer 6

there is a thing called innocent spouse relief. your not liable for him if your separated. are you seperated or divorced? you should think about divorce. he wont go to jail. just because he didnt file a return doesnt mean he owes the gov't money. if he owes them and they catch on then they will levy his assets and begin collections proceedures way before jail.

Answer 7

it sure can, you can be held responsible for paying his taxes as much as he is, you need to get some sort of legal papers saying you arent responsible for his bills or you will be in jail too. he needs to go to the irs and get the proper papers, file his taxes and pay his fines.