I am getting married November 15. We have not and will not be living together before then. What would my filing status be for the next tax season. I usually file head of household, single with two dependents (my two boys). Do I need to instead claim married with my future husband?
2007-08-31 10:52:58 · 6 answers · asked by Katie 76 3 in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
Congratulations!
As of December 15th 2007, your filing status will be married filing jointly and the same for 2008. As long as you are married by midnight, December 31, 2007 you are to legally use the Married Filing Jointly filing status.
You will no longer be able to file Head of Household filing status because one of the requirements for this status is to not be married.
Next, when you and your newlywed husband go to file your year end taxes, take your social security cards, do not use your husbands last name unless you had it changed immediately and usually social security could take up to six months for your last name change.
Take you children's social security cards because it is the same for your children. You and your husband are able to claim your sons for dependency exemptions but make sure the tax person uses their names and number on their Social Security Cards. (Make sure your children's father is not going to claim your son's for dependency exemptions.)
If you and your husband work and you both claim Married Filing Jointly with two dependents, be careful not to do this.
My suggestion is to sit down with a tax person and figure out the best way to file your W-4s. I have seen many a couple owe at the end of the year. I would suggest not to take anyone's advice, seriously sit down with a tax person and let him or her assist you with filling out your W-4s.
Congratulations and Best Wishes.
2007-08-31 17:20:55 · answer #1 · answered by dd 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your filing status is based on your marital status as of 12/31. As you will be getting married in November (and living together after that) you will have two choices: Married-Filing Jointly or Married-Filing Separately. Jointly is usually better. Head of Household wll no longer be an option for you.
2007-08-31 12:45:57 · answer #2 · answered by Wayne Z 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can file either Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately if your marital status on 13/31/2007 is married. You won't normally be able to claim HoH any more.
2007-08-31 13:23:30 · answer #3 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Your filing status is what your marital status is at the stroke of midnight on December 31st. Either file a joint return or married filing separately. Trust me, joint 99.99999% of the time works out better. In order to file head of household, you need to be single.
Good luck to you and your family in the future.
2007-08-31 11:19:09 · answer #4 · answered by IRENE THE BOOKIE 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Since you'll be married as of 12/31/07, you'll file for 2007 as either married filing separately, or file a joint return. The joint return almost always results in lower total taxes for the two of you. You can't file as head of household.
On the joint return (or separate if you choose to go that way) you can claim your two sons, and the child tax credits for them if they are young enough. If you have been getting EIC, you'd have to calculate it based on your joint income - if you choose to file separately, you would not be eligible for EIC in any case.
2007-08-31 14:19:42 · answer #5 · answered by Judy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Your filling status for 2007 will either be "married filling jointly" or "head of household". It depends which filling status you want to go with. I recommend doing scenarios for both, "mariried filling jointly" and "head of household", to see which one will benefit you the most.
I've included a link to the IRS publication 501 if you want to look further into it.
2007-08-31 11:10:28 · answer #6 · answered by Tan 1 · 0⤊ 6⤋