I was married 9-2006. We are filing separate returns. My wife has 2 children. Can she file single head of household for 2006. Can I file single head of household 2006. Can she claim the 18 year old? Any help is appreciated. We are taking standard deductions.
2007-02-26 17:48:34 · 6 answers · asked by Jay S 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Nope. To file as head of household, she would either have to be unmarried, or you would have to have lived somewhere else from July 1-December 31 of last year.
It's a nice try.
2007-02-26 18:01:36 · answer #1 · answered by Beckee 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You are married, and were married as of the end of 2006. The end of the year determines your status for the year. Neither of you can file single, or head of household. I'm not sure just why you would file separate returns - you'd probably be better off filing joint than you would as married filing separately, your only other legal choice. The people who said that either of you can legally file as head of household are WRONG.
If one of her children is 18, she can claim that child either on a joint or a married filing separately return if the child lived with her for over half of the year, and didn't provide more than half of their own support.
2007-02-26 18:00:47 · answer #2 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, if you are married as of 12/31/06, your only choices are "married filing joint" or "married filing separate". Neither of you can file single nor head or household. Married filing joint is almost always more beneficial for married couples.
You can read about "qualified children" and "qualified relatives" eligible to be claimed as dependents starting on page 19. Your wife should be able to claim the 18 yr old assuming the child lived with her more than half the year and the child did not provide more than 50% of his own support.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf
2007-02-26 17:54:08 · answer #3 · answered by tma 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
No but you can file Married filing seperately. She can file married filing seperately. Either one of you can claim the 18 year old as long as the 18 year old did not have significant income. Why would you file seperately when filing together would be much, much better.
2007-02-26 23:58:56 · answer #4 · answered by mrfoxhorn 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your wife can claim 'single head of household' for 2006, but you can't. Whether or not she can claim the 18 year old as a 'dependant' depends on whether that child was enrolled in a school or college when it turned 18. Be sure that both of your returns 'agree' on whether you are 'married' or 'single' when you file, though, or you could get 'audited' ... and this year (2007) you should file a 'joint' return, because you'd get the highest 'refund' possible that way.
2007-02-26 17:56:44 · answer #5 · answered by Kris L 7 · 0⤊ 5⤋
as long as the 18 year old was still in school,yes she can claim them,and yes she can file head of household,and yes u can file as long as u do it separately
2007-02-26 17:55:30 · answer #6 · answered by lost d 1 · 0⤊ 4⤋