Married Filing Income Tax Separately

[danver 15]

Hi, I just wanna ask a few questions. I am filing for US citizenship this year. I have been married 5 yrs with my USC husband and we always and had been filing married joint since the first year of our marriage.

This year we are planning to file separately. my husband is not working for 3 yrs. now and so he owes child support for his daughter.I am the head of the household since 2009.

I am the only one working full time since then.So here are my concerns:

1 -If we file as married but file separately, would it not cause red flag in my citiznship application?

2- Should i just fill out one N400 form or i should fill up one for each of my 2 kids?

3.Do i have to pay 3 fees for me and my 2 kids seaparately or i will only pay for myself?

4. If we file as married but separately..is it better than filing as joint?

Pls. i would appreciate ur help. Thanks

[himher 634]

In general the tax bill is much lower for married filing jointly than married filing sepately.

It is free to check and see how your specific household is affected by using one of the online tax programs (Turbotax or H&R Block) and enter all of the information as married filing separately, get the summary, then go back and change it to married filing jointly / add your husband

The difference is usually significant. Assuming you live in a community property state the most they can take from your refund is 50% (his share). SO: If the refund for married filing jointly is more than double the refund for married filing separately (it usually is) then it is generally best to file jointly.

You will get a notice if your refund is targeted. If you get that notice, you can file an injured spouse claim to ensure that your share (which is all of it in a non-community property state) is protected.

Please study the below and at least you are armed with some knowledge to make the correct decision for your family.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203.html

Whether you file jointly or separately does not affect your citizenship. Not filing married when you are married might raise some flags however hopefully you have not been filing head of household all this time.

Best of luck

Hi, I just wanna ask a few questions. I am filing for US citizenship this year. I have been married 5 yrs with my USC husband and we always and had been filing married joint since the first year of our marriage.

This year we are planning to file separately. my husband is not working for 3 yrs. now and so he owes child support for his daughter.I am the head of the household since 2009.

I am the only one working full time since then.So here are my concerns:

1 -If we file as married but file separately, would it not cause red flag in my citiznship application?

2- Should i just fill out one N400 form or i should fill up one for each of my 2 kids?

3.Do i have to pay 3 fees for me and my 2 kids seaparately or i will only pay for myself?

4. If we file as married but separately..is it better than filing as joint?

Pls. i would appreciate ur help. Thanks

[danver 15]

In general the tax bill is much lower for married filing jointly than married filing sepately.

It is free to check and see how your specific household is affected by using one of the online tax programs (Turbotax or H&R Block) and enter all of the information as married filing separately, get the summary, then go back and change it to married filing jointly / add your husband

The difference is usually significant. Assuming you live in a community property state the most they can take from your refund is 50% (his share). SO: If the refund for married filing jointly is more than double the refund for married filing separately (it usually is) then it is generally best to file jointly.

You will get a notice if your refund is targeted. If you get that notice, you can file an injured spouse claim to ensure that your share (which is all of it in a non-community property state) is protected.

Please study the below and at least you are armed with some knowledge to make the correct decision for your family.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc203.html

Whether you file jointly or separately does not affect your citizenship. Not filing married when you are married might raise some flags however hopefully you have not been filing head of household all this time.

Best of luck

Thanks.. we filed our income tax since we got married as joint but thinking of filing separately as married this time for his ex always gets her share for the child support that hubby owed. He's been unemployed for 3 yrs now and he said since i am the only one been bringing income in the household..it is not fair to me that his ex wud get her child support from my income. No i havent filed as the head of the household yet. I am considering though and claim my 3 minor kids (1 Us citizen and 2 Non citizen).

Thanks for ur suggestion.

[himher 634]

Filing head of household however is not legal for a married couple and it is advised that you not do that especially with your ongoing citizenship case.

Usually (not always) the reduction you take by filing separately is greater than the reduction you take when the refund gets reduced for past due support so you are still better off overall by filing jointly. Two bad choices: Either the government gets more than their share or your family takes a hit to the ex but either way you get dinged.

Best to check both ways and decide what is best for your particular family situation.

Thanks.. we filed our income tax since we got married as joint but thinking of filing separately as married this time for his ex always gets her share for the child support that hubby owed. He's been unemployed for 3 yrs now and he said since i am the only one been bringing income in the household..it is not fair to me that his ex wud get her child support from my income. No i havent filed as the head of the household yet. I am considering though and claim my 3 minor kids (1 Us citizen and 2 Non citizen).

Thanks for ur suggestion.

[danver 15]

Filing head of household however is not legal for a married couple and it is advised that you not do that especially with your ongoing citizenship case.

Usually (not always) the reduction you take by filing separately is greater than the reduction you take when the refund gets reduced for past due support so you are still better off overall by filing jointly. Two bad choices: Either the government gets more than their share or your family takes a hit to the ex but either way you get dinged.

Best to check both ways and decide what is best for your particular family situation.

Thank you. I really appreciate it..good thing i asked first.

[NickD 202]

Don't recall my buddies that were hit with child support payments using there tax returns for evidence for the amount they had to pay. Had their own forms to fill out with proof of income. I worked around that by getting full physical custody of my kids. Those were very bitter days in my life, and the crud that crawls out of the woodwork that comes into your life to take advantage of your misfortune, these are the worse legal crooks in the world. And whoever came out with no-fault divorce laws should be shot after years of torture. No such thing as no-fault. Then the courts are very biased toward the woman, even though they are the ones playing around.

In theory at least, your spouse not only has that kid to support, but you and your three kids, and what kind of care is his ex giving his kid? This is all pure BS, and the party with the best attorney usually wins, really no justice in this.

Did get my ex to agree to a one time alimony settlement, would rather deal with a bank than her any day. Worked hard for five years to pay off all those debts my ex incurred. But went a lot quicker than I thought because she wasn't around blowing my money faster than I could earn it. And was able to take good care of my kids.

This gal I met made me believe in the first time in soulmates, she had a minor daughter, know of families that remarried with kids and homes are like a Grand Central Station with ex's walking in and out. One strong advantage of marrying a gal whose ex is 4,000 miles away, and was easy for her to get full custody. But then there is the USCIS to deal with. Ha, really can't win.

[Udella&Wiz 325]

Hi, I just wanna ask a few questions. I am filing for US citizenship this year. I have been married 5 yrs with my USC husband and we always and had been filing married joint since the first year of our marriage.

This year we are planning to file separately. my husband is not working for 3 yrs. now and so he owes child support for his daughter.I am the head of the household since 2009.

I am the only one working full time since then.So here are my concerns:

1 -If we file as married but file separately, would it not cause red flag in my citiznship application?

2- Should i just fill out one N400 form or i should fill up one for each of my 2 kids?

3.Do i have to pay 3 fees for me and my 2 kids seaparately or i will only pay for myself?

4. If we file as married but separately..is it better than filing as joint?

Pls. i would appreciate ur help. Thanks

Here's my 2 cents - are you filing based on 3 yrs of marriage or the 5 yr residency rule?

1. I see nothing wrong with changing how you file. As you indicated you've filed the last few yrs as joint, correct? I expect you have plenty of other evidence to show you're married and have co-mingled finances.

2. I assume you're referring to kids who are under 18 and are GC holders as well? You are filing for your OWN citizenship. If they're under 18 when you take the oath you can claim their citizenship through your certificate. 1 fee for you only (unless they asre over 18 and need to file their own petitions.

3. no - see above

4. Can't really give you tax advice, but I'm sure someone here will

[danver 15]

Here's my 2 cents - are you filing based on 3 yrs of marriage or the 5 yr residency rule?

1. I see nothing wrong with changing how you file. As you indicated you've filed the last few yrs as joint, correct? I expect you have plenty of other evidence to show you're married and have co-mingled finances.

2. I assume you're referring to kids who are under 18 and are GC holders as well? You are filing for your OWN citizenship. If they're under 18 when you take the oath you can claim their citizenship through your certificate. 1 fee for you only (unless they asre over 18 and need to file their own petitions.

3. no - see above

4. Can't really give you tax advice, but I'm sure someone here will

1. Yes we been filing as joint and this is our first time to file separately. Yes we got joint bills,insurance, mortgage plus a baby in both our names.

2.Yes my two kids who are not USC are under 16.

[Jupiter07 12]

1. Yes we been filing as joint and this is our first time to file separately. Yes we got joint bills,insurance, mortgage plus a baby in both our names.

2.Yes my two kids who are not USC are under 16.

Filing jointly is definately not a req. for filing for citizenship but, you can still file jointly and file a form for "injured spouse" - I forgot the form no. That way, IRS will not take your return and pay towards your husbands overdue child support. But check further, not sure this applies for the support that accumulated while you were actually married.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

To answer your question

There is no requirement that you file JOINT tax returns. There IS a requirement that YOU file a tax return (either joint with your husband or separately)and a requirement that you ARE married and living together. A JOINT return can provide evidence of BOTH paying taxes and living together and being married. Very convenient, but not necessary. You can change your filing status anytime you want.

Just be sure to provide other evidence you are married and live together.

[danver 15]

To answer your question

There is no requirement that you file JOINT tax returns. There IS a requirement that YOU file a tax return (either joint with your husband or separately)and a requirement that you ARE married and living together. A JOINT return can provide evidence of BOTH paying taxes and living together and being married. Very convenient, but not necessary. You can change your filing status anytime you want.

Just be sure to provide other evidence you are married and live together.

Thank u. yes we are still married and same address. same co-mingling finances since i came here on a k1 visa 5 yrs. ago.