In the upcoming tax season I will be newly married and unfortunately my husband will be incarcerated. Can I qualify for the EIC credit?
I'm thinking of going the Head of Household route since we will have only been married a month at the end of the tax year...Does anyone agree???
I will NOT have lived with him at all this year, when I marry him he will be incarcerated! So I will not have lived with him at all during this year. NOW can I file Head of household????
2007-09-23 04:38:53 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Business & Finance ➔ Taxes ➔ United States
By the way I have two kids that qualify. He will not be filing due to his status. Will I get more back filing married jointly although he has nothing to contribute or HOH.
2007-09-23 05:40:23 · update #1
You'll be better off filing a joint return with him. You'll pay less total tax.
If you have a dependent child you can file Head of Household as long as you did not live with your husband at any time after 6/30/07. If you have no child, you cannot file HoH. However, even if you can file HoH, you'll pay more tax that way as your husband will have to file Married Filing Separately.
Whether or not you qualify for the EIC has nothing to do with his incarcerated status. It's based upon income and how many dependent children you have. Also, if you file Married Filing Separately you are not eligible for the EIC regardless of your circumstances.
Addendum: You'll virtually always pay less total tax filing a joint return. You can file a joint return even if he has no income. File a joint return!
2007-09-23 05:25:16 · answer #1 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your marital status as of the end of the year determines how you can file. Assuming you are still married on Dec 31, your choices will be filing a joint return, or filing as married filing separately. You are not allowed to file as head of household.
The IRS has been looking closely at EIC claims recently. If you try to file illegally as head of household and claim EIC, you'd not only have to pay back whatever you got illegally plus penalties and interest, but would also be banned from claiming EIC for a number of years in the future, and under some circumstances could be prosecuted for tax fraud.
If you wait until after the first of the year to get married, then you can legally file your 2007 return as single, or as head of household if you have a closely related dependent like a child living with you, and can claim EIC if you meet the requirements.
If you file a joint return, you can claim EIC if you meet the other qualifications. EIC isn't available if you file as married filing separately. His not living with you because he is incarcerated would not qualify as being "considered unmarried" so no, you can't file as head of household.
2007-09-23 05:28:21 · answer #2 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Interesting to see 2 of our top people disagreeing. I believe you can use HOH (did not live together at all during the last 6 months), but since we know nothing about your or his income or deductions, I suggest you prepare returns both ways to see which is best.
2007-09-23 08:57:56 · answer #3 · answered by r_kav 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your question was answered in the first question you posted, if you don't understand email me with the specifics and i will try to answer it for you.
Incedently the first 2 answers are not in disagreement. see pub 501 page 4
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p501.pdf
2007-09-23 11:15:09 · answer #4 · answered by Charlie & Angie G 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋