my husband just died last year what do i claim on my taxes? i always claimed head of household?

Question

we were seperated for a year before he got sick and disabled so i was took care of all the bills that why i claimed hoh. and my husband owed irs alot of money that i had nothing to do with

Answer 1

If your husband lived with you, then HoH was not proper. You could file as either Married Filing Jointly (MFJ) or Married filing Separately (MFS). In general, to qualify as HoH, you must have a qualifying person living in the household. (See pages 16 & 17 of the instructions to Form 1040: http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040.pdf?portlet=3 ) Children and parents qualify, but husbands don't. You must pay at least 50% of the cost of keeping the home.

Your filing status for 2007 would be Qualifying Widow if you have a qualifying person living in the household.

Answer 2

If you were married & living with your husband, you should have been claiming married filing jointly (not head of household). You can also use the married filing jointly status for the year your husband passed (see p17 in the 1040 Inst). Find someone (a CPA or other tax specialist) to review your returns, you may need to refile your prior year's returns. Try looking for the AARP or other tax volunteers at your local library, if you are in a cash crunch -- they don't just help seniors.

I am very sorry you lost your husband. I cannot imagine how you must be feeling. I will say a prayer for you.

Answer 3

It is also possible to file as Head of Household if you had qualifying children and your husband died before July 1.

You would have to file a final return for your husband, MF Separate. Then file as Head of Household for yourself and claim the children. This might give you the Earned Income Credit.

You should check with a QUALIFIED tax professional on this issue.

Answer 4

Were you separated from your husband in previous years? If not, you should not have been filing as HoH!

I'll assume that you were actually filing jointly with him previously. You can still file a joint return for the year of his death. Write "deceased" after his name. Sign his name, followed by your name and "surviving spouse".

Answer 5

Your filing status will be MF Joint (or MF Separate) for the year he passed away. A person who died during the tax year is considered to have lived the whole year for individual tax purposes.

The FOLLOWING year, you will file either as Single or Qualifying Widow, depending on whether you have any dependent children or not. If you are Qualifying Widow, you may use this status for only 2 years. If you remarry during one of the 2 years, your filing status will change back to MFJ or MFS.

--A Damn Fine Tax Advisor