"Married, filing separately" question
I figured this was the board to go on to find people who were previously married. DH and I are going through a divorce, but won't be divorced until January.
If we file as married, filing separately for 2008, how does that work? Does the IRS wait until they receive both of our returns and then split it 50/50? I know I can Google (envisioning needle in a haystack), but I figured I'd rather talk to someone who has done it personally.
If you have any advice for me regarding the filing, let me know. Not sure what that would be, but I could overlook something since I'm not a tax expert. We have used Turbo Tax in the past. I'm not sure if it would be beneficial to have the taxes done by a professional this time. Neither of us really have the money for that.
Thanks!
Re: "Married, filing separately" question
I'll tell you what I did. I was living separately from my ex and the divorce didn't go through for 2.5 years. I filed Head of household since I had both children living with me. If you have children together that's the best thing you can do. IF you don't have children....I would file single. IF I remember correctly as long as you separated within the tax year you get to file single. It's not really about marital status it's about dependancy.
I'm not a tax accountant or preparer. I would also spend the $$ and go to HR Block or whatever this year b/c of the life changes.
Just to note, if you file married, separately, they look at the returns individually. You won't get your return based on when he files his. And they won't split it 50/50. He gets his refund and you get your refund; it's up to you to split it evenly, if required. Or you can file jointly (if there's benefit to doing so) and split the refund when it's received - that is, if you trust him or he trusts you enough. Or take the difference out during a divorce settlement if he or you takes the entire refund or pays the taxes due.
IRS.gov states:
Generally, your marital status on the last day of the year determines your status for the entire year.
If you are unmarried, or if you are legally separated from your spouse under a divorce or separate maintenance decree according to your state law, and you do not qualify for another filing status, your filing status is single.
Generally, to qualify for head of household status, you must be unmarried and you must have paid more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for a qualifying person for more than half the year. You may also qualify for head of household status if you, though married, file a separate return, your spouse was not a member of your household during the last six months of the tax year, and you provided more than half the cost of maintaining as your home a household that was the main home for more than one half of your tax year of a qualifying person.
If you are married, you and your spouse may file a joint return or separate returns. If your spouse died and you did not remarry in the year that your spouse died, you may still file a joint return for that year. This is the last year for which you may file a joint return with that spouse.
(deleted unrelated status information regarding widow/er status)
More detailed information on each filing status can be found in Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information.
(and I'd use TurboTax before I went to H&R Block. TT is as self-explanatory for you as as H&R training qualifies their employees for the most part.)