I was wondering if there are any accountants out there who can help me with a serious question...Can a wife file married but seperate even though she is not seperated and she lives with her husband? Or is this fraud??? Serious answers only please.
The husband has bad credit and she doesn't want it to ruin hers. Is this ok to do? If not what are the consequences?
2007-05-22 02:49:04 · 3 answers · asked by gentrymic 1 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
This is why she files seperate because he has very bad credit and she thinks that it will affect her. Maybe she is wrong???
2007-05-22 04:54:02 · update #1
There are 5 ways to file and married, filing seperate is one of them. You can be joined at the hip the entire year and use the filing. It is designed exactly for that sort of thing; when one spouse wants no exposure to liabilities of the the other. You can also consider a married, filing joint return and the spouse who has no liability can include a form 8379; injured spouse allocation; and their portion of refund can't be touched for other's liabilities. The reason I mention this is that with married, filing seperate you forfeit some of the tax credits and etc; no education credits, no child tax credits, things like that. You can use the married, filing joint with an 8379 and are still entitled to all the good things there.
2007-05-22 03:56:25 · answer #1 · answered by acmeraven 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Married couples have the option of filing either jointly or separately. It does not mean that you are separated, just that you are filing separate return. It is usually not advantageous to file separately as the rules are structured to equalize the two (if one itemizes both must itemize so you can't take advantage of both the standard and itemized deductions, etc.).
Are you sure that filing jointly will ruin her credit? I don't think that copies of prior tax returns are always necessary to get credit. For example, when I bought a home all they needed were my last 3 W-2s.
2007-05-22 03:32:23 · answer #2 · answered by Tax Man 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, a married couple can each file separate even if living together. There are certain deductions/credits that they may lose if applicable but there is nothing to prevent her from filing separately.
2007-05-22 03:00:01 · answer #3 · answered by Wayne Z 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋