How to File Taxes if Married Filing Separately

The "married filing separately" status has high tax rates and few benefits. Yet there are good reasons for some married people not to file jointly.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• IRS Forms
• Financial Statements
• Financial Calculator
• Paper And Pencils
• Tax Preparation Software

Decide Against Filing Jointly

1. Determine how your spouse prefers to file. You must both agree to file either one joint return or two separate returns.

2. Determine whether your spouse will have a large tax bill. If you file separately, you are responsible only for your own tax bill.

3. Discover whether your spouse is lying to avoid a tax bill. If you file separately, you are not liable for your spouse's lies.

4. Calculate the tax bill using each of the married filing statuses. In some rare cases, a couple's total tax bill can be lower if both file separately.

5. Determine whether you should file separately from your spouse. If the answer is yes, go to Section 2.

Determine Whether You Are Considered Married

6. Determine whether you were legally married on December 31 of the tax year. If unmarried, try the "single" or "head of household" status.

7. Determine whether you were legally separated under a separate maintenance decree issued by a court as of December 31 of the tax year. If you were legally separated, try "single" or "head of household."

8. Determine whether you are considered unmarried. You are considered unmarried if you paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for your child and did not live with your spouse for even one day during the last six months of the tax year. If you are considered unmarried, try "head of household."

9. If you determine that you are considered married for the tax year, check the box for "married filing separately" on line 3 of the 1040 or 1040A form.

Tips & Warnings

• "Head of household" is better than "single," and "single" is better than "married filing separately." Always use the best filing status available.
• You are considered married for the tax year in the year your spouse died unless you remarried during the tax year or you fit the "considered unmarried" category.

[reddglover]

on 5/12/2008 Recently my husband informed me that he filed as a widow on his tax returns. How can he be allowed to do this? His first wife is dead. I am his second wife I am very much alive. We live in different states and have been separated since 1986

[ronhorn]

on 2/13/2008 Where do I read the responses to these posts?

[StarsLullabies]

on 1/28/2008 I am 18 and my boyfriend and i have been together for 3 years and want to get married, however, to our families we are too young. We have been considering a secret civil marriage that we would keep quite until we decide it is time in a year or two to announce our engagement and then get married within our church. However, our worry is that tax filiing will complicate our idea. Since we would be secretly wed, our parents are still planning on claiming us through college since we'll both be on our parents medical insurance etc. Is our secreitive civil marriage pretty much impossible since our families would continue to claim us and we would share in their work benefits and not eachothers?? Is this at all possible????????

[Orancio1]

on 1/28/2008 I am married and we both want to file single. Can we do that?

[icyorchid]

on 12/28/2007 My hubby and I are married for 2 years and I sell on EBay. I think it is better for us to file seperately, because when we filled jointly last year, the government took 1/2 of his return because of something I did over 20 years ago with school and a loan.

Is it better for us to file seperately? Thanks
Sandra