My sister and her fiance are engaged to be married next year, but would like to secretly marry this year. She is 22 and still in law school, which my parents pay for. If they get married in secret, will my parents have to be informed? Will her married status change the way they have to file their taxes? I think because they're still paying for her education and she only works during the summers, they list her as a dependent. I know very little about filing taxes myself and probably don't know what I'm talking about, so please help!!!
2007-09-17 09:11:19 · 9 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
If she gets married, there are limited circumstances in which your parents could still claim her as a dependent, which they are probably doing. The only way they could claim her is if she does NOT file a joint return with her husband. If they file a joint return, then your parents couldn't claim her so they'd have to know.
If she doesn't file a joint return, and doesn't change her name with social security, then she could probably get married and keep it a secret - although I'd wonder about the maturity of someone doing that, and whether they needed to grow up some before they married.
If she is required to file a return at all though, she'd have to file her own as marrieed filing separately, so if your parents see that, they'd know. If her gross income for the year is $3400 or more, she is required to file. If she makes less than that total, but has tax withheld and files to get the money refunded to her, she'd still have to file as married filing separately.
2007-09-17 09:45:46 · answer #1 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The only thing I can add to what everyone else has said is that her parent can claim her as a dependant if she files a joint return if they are filing to get a refund and no tax liability would exist for either spouse pub 501 p 9.
If she files jointly with her husband and her parents claim her, IRS will notify her parents that she filed a return and claimed herself. They won’t tell her parents her filing status. They will notify her that someone claimed her on their tax return as a dependent, they won’t tell her who.
If she claims herself, either as single or married filing joint; both returns will probably go into exam. If IRS determines that she isn’t her parents dependent, they will disallow the dependency exemption and the Educations on her parents return. IRS would probably love this because it will most likely generate more dollars if she is not a dependant.
Congress thought on this is that your right to file a joint return with your spouse is more important than her parent’s right to claim her as a dependant. Of course she could always lie to both the government and her parents by getting married and filing single, but that would say a lot about her character. Best thing is to wait, or tell the parents. I’m sure they want to be there on her wedding day.
2007-09-17 12:55:53 · answer #2 · answered by Charlie & Angie G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you're legally married, then you must indicate accordingly on your tax return by either filling jointly with your legal spouse, or by filling your own return and choosing "Married Filling separately" Your name doesn't matter. Some people never change their names when they get married. There's no law that says a husband and wife have to have the same last name, its only a tradition. I was about to tell you that your parents can't claim you as a dependent anyway, since you're too old and not a student and you're supporting yourself, but you said nobody claims you so I guess that's a moot point. Bottom line is that if you are legally married you must file taxes as such. (and your husband must do the same). Is there any way that you can file your taxes yourself or get a different tax preparer?
2016-05-17 06:37:06 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If they're paying for her school, then they probably are declaring her as a dependent. She probably files her own tax return (assuming she has some part-time earnings) as a single person. If she marries, then your parents aren't able to claim her as a dependent anymore, and her own filing status changes. She's either filing jointly with her husband, or married, filing separately. Your parents lose a deduction, and, depending on the earnings she and her fiance have, they may not make up the difference. That said, getting married isn't about tax ramifications.
2007-09-17 09:18:27 · answer #4 · answered by Still reading 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If she gets married, then she can no longer be claimed as a dependent on your parents taxes. She and her husband can either file their taxes as married filing jointly or married filing single. They should see an accountant to decide which is the most advantageous for them. She will also have to change her FAFSA information (if she files a FAFSA to get financial aid) for the following year as she will not be a dependent of your parents any longer. Instead, she will need to file as an independent student and list her husband's income and her income instead. Her getting married now has a lot of implications on your parents taxes (if they claim her as a dependent), her taxes, her future husbands taxes, and the aid that she receives for school. Its possible that she could receive more financial aid based on her income and her husband's income then she can being a dependent of your parents. This is not a decision to be taken lightly. If her parents claim her as a dependent on their taxes, she can't keep her marriage secret from them. If they assume that she can still be claimed as a dependent and go ahead with that, they will be committing fraud.
2007-09-17 09:21:44 · answer #5 · answered by jml167 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
If you sister gets married your parents will no longer be able to file and claim her, which means they also lose the deduction for part of the college expenses. That would be a pretty crappy thing to do to the people who are paying her tuition. If you sister doesn't tell them the IRS will inform them after your sis and her husband file taxes.
She needs to go and sit down with your parents and explain what she wants, see what they say.
Hiding things from parents is a sure sign she is not ready for marriage.
2007-09-17 09:18:15 · answer #6 · answered by Gem 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
She can be married, and parents can claim her if she meets this 5 tests. As long as she meets the test (including not filing a joint return with her hubby) her parents can claim her.
Claiming a Dependent
If you want to claim a person as a dependent on your tax return, that person must meet five criteria. A dependent must be a member of your household, be a US citizen or resident, not be married and filing a joint return, have income less than $3,050, and you must provide more than half of their support.
2007-09-17 10:33:20 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
can I file separate from my wife
2015-01-30 10:51:37 · answer #8 · answered by sedrickfred 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She could really roll the dice and lie to both the parents and the government.
2007-09-17 10:20:10 · answer #9 · answered by outtafavr 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋