Tax Question

AlexandriaWest

Currently I am pregnant with my second child, due in september, and I also have a 4 year old. I am engaged to be married at the beginning of the year, but my fianc? and I are thinking of getting married before our daughter is born so that we can have the same last name. However, selfishly, we are wondering if its more beneficial on our tax returns if i file as single parent head of household claiming 2 children. Does anyone know anything about a situation like this? 

kcisthebombdotcom

This is impossible to answer. It's all going to depend on what your income is, what future DH's income is, etc. You do get a tax break for being married and sometimes that tax break is larger than the amount of tax break you'd get for a single parent claiming 2 kids.

Another idea-if you have turbo tax, you can run it both ways before you commit to it and see what gives you the highest return as well. That's what we did this year.

smerka

There are too many variables to easily answer this.  Do you live together now? Does your fianc? work? Is your fianc? the father of your 4 yo?  Who makes more money?  What other credits, deductions are you eligible for?

Right now there is no penalty to file MFJ vs two singles, but that is set to expire at the end of 2012.  There will a lot of pressure on congress to extend it, but who knows.  The standard deduction for MFJ is going to be less than Head of Household and a single (combined).  The best way will be to run the numbers and see what's better.  The IRS website has links to a lot of free software if you income is less than $50,000.  And I'm pretty sure none of the online software companies will charge you unless you actually file.  Just be aware that most of the software will be for the 2011 tax year, not 2012 so the numbers might vary a little. 

MissNikki007

KC_13:

This is impossible to answer. It's all going to depend on what your income is, what future DH's income is, etc. You do get a tax break for being married and sometimes that tax break is larger than the amount of tax break you'd get for a single parent claiming 2 kids.

Another idea-if you have turbo tax, you can run it both ways before you commit to it and see what gives you the highest return as well. That's what we did this year.

Yep.