I got married in 2006; how do I file my taxes?

Question

From January to August of 2006 I was on my parents' health insurance. In August I got married, went off their health insurance and moved to another state. My mom wants to claim me as a dependent in 2006 because of the health insurance; I want to claim myself as independent and married because I had a hell of a lot of financial hardship in the last half of 2006 and nobody I was "depending" on was giving me much help. What does the law say here? What should I do?

Answer 1

You must file Married filing joint or married filing separate if you were married on or before Dec 31, 2006. It does not matter if you were on your parents insurance, What matters is that you were married at the end of the yr, So in the eyes of the IRS you are considered to be married for the whole year.

Answer 2

File a joint return with your new husband. You 2 will pay the lowest tax that way.

Since you are now married, your parents can no longer claim you as a dependent. It doesn't matter how much support they provided in 2006; a married taxpayer cannot be claimed as a dependent on another taxpayer's return.

Even if your parents provided 100% of your support for 364 days in 2006, if you married on 12/31/2006 they would lose your exemption. Period!

Answer 3

Technically if you were still in your parents house on June 30th, they can legally claim you as a deduction - PROVIDED - you were a full time student and under 24. However if you were not a full time student and over the age of 18 and NOT dependent on their income, they cannot claim you. It then becomes a race to whomever files first.

Answer 4

It is best to get a tax preparer to do it as they can get deductins you may never know about. I would not go the H&R block

Answer 5

H&R Block for a small fee but you never have to worry
and they will also advise you on things you can and can't
do or what will increase your return