Tax Help - "What The Preacher Man Joined Together, Let NO Man Separate!"

Remember those wonderful vows you took on your wedding day? Well, those same vows can sometimes either make or break you when it comes to calculating tax liability or the reduction thereof............

One of the more common questions that I am asked is "Would it be better if my spouse and I file separately". My response is always, no, because you are going to lose out on deductions and credits.

Unfortunately, in marriage and life, everything is not always "Happily Ever After". Even if one spouse has tax liability from a previous marriage, owes child support or student loans, filing jointly is always the best remedy. The one thing that most couples do not realize is that you can file jointly and reap the best benefits but yet file Form 8857 for Innocent Spouse relief.

Some couples, even when life is good, decide to file separately. Say perhaps, one spouse gets a CP-2000 for changes on their return due to loosing deductions and benefits resulting from the separate filing. Then they decide they want to amend their returns and file jointly.

Here's the best way to remember the rules for amending a return under these circumstances:

"WHAT THE PREACHER JOINED TOGETHER,

LET NO MAN (OR THE IRS) SEPARATE!"

Once you file jointly, you cannot amend to file separate.

But.......you can go from married filing separate to married filing joint!

Read more about the deductions and credits that you can lose by filing separately:

Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction and Filing Information
Publication 504, Divorced or Separated Individuals
Form 8332 (PDF), Release of Claim to Exemption for Child of Divorced or Separated Parents
Tax Topic 354, Dependents

Form 2120 (PDF), Multiple Support Declaration

Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education
Tax Topic 605, Education Credits
Form 8863 (PDF), Education Credits (Hope and Lifetime Learning Credits)

Tax Topic 601, Earned Income Credit