First of all, is this possible? I have heard many different things. I changed over to married on my W2's but husband wants to claim single....anyone know what you can and can't do??
Thanks!
abc7077
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
You can file separately but you file married separately, you can't file SINGLE when you are married. If you do file separately you each pay one half of the married rate, not one half of the single rate. Usually people do this when one of the two makes a lot less than the other person. The person with the smaller income would have their income at a lower tax rate than if they were doing it together. If you make a lot more than your husband then he might not want as much taken out of his paycheck. It depends on how you set up finances etc.
stacedz
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
OK, I make a little more than him but not a significant amount...we are better off filing Married separately? I know many of my friends got hit hard after they were married since they didn't own a house, etc....that is our case too and I was wondering what our best case scenario would be with filing. Thanks ABC!
Sonicstef
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Stacedz: Unfortunetely, MOST middle class married couples get hit very hard come tax time as a result of current tax law. There isnt anything you can do about it other than lower your income or have more deductions (like a mortgage, etc..)
Talk to your accountant about how you can pay the lowest tax bill possible but be prepared to pay a considerable amount more than you paid last year. I belive that most couples would pay MORE if they filed Married but Seperate.
There was a recent thread about this where I posted a 'marriage penatly' calculator I found on the web AND several accountants posted a better explanation of this.
abc7077
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Sonicstef is correct, you still wind up paying a lot more when married no matter if you file separately or jointly. There is a marriage penalty where you can't claim the same proportion as when you were single. Speak to an accountant before you make any decision but I think Married in any form is still going to make you have to pay more taxes!
Wendy
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
I think you might be talking about your withholdings on your paycheck. For that you can have tax withheld at a single or married rate and claim no exemptions or 1 or 2. If you have your taxes withheld at the married rate you should claim 0 exemptions. This way you will have more tax taken out during the year and probably will not have to pay as much when you file. Even if you are married you can also have your tax withheld at the single rate with 0 exemptions.
However, when you file your taxes(1040) at the end of the year you must put your status as either married filing jointly or married filing separately (not a good idea for most married people..you will pay more). Once you are married you cannot file your yearly taxes as a single person, but you can still have your taxes withheld from your paycheck as single throughout the year. Hope this helps.
stacedz
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Wendy...you are right with what I was trying to find out, although I didn't ask it right and you and everyone else cleared it up!
Thanks!
anne
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Can I ask another question, similar to stacedz?
We got married in October - Is it better for me to file Single-1 or Married-O for the rest of the year? Which will help to pay less when we file our taxes for the year?
Sonicstef
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
I dont think the number of dependencies is related to your Single status unless your husband is not working and is your dependent
I always list 0 dependents (both single and married) because I want to lighten my tax burdent come 4/15 but I am still going to have to pay a big sum.
So if you want to pay more now, list 0 dependents & married. If you list 1 dependent then less will be taken out weekly but you will have to pay more later.
abc7077
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
I always list 0 because for some reason if I don't I wind up paying more. I assume it would be the same when married. Also even if you get married on December 31st before midnight you must file married for that year!!!! Uggghh
anne
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Thanks!
I never seem to get the tax thing straight!
JENHOS
Posted:
Member since
Re: Filing SINGLE when you are Married...
Ugh this sounds complicated. I have to look into this when we get back.
