Single or MFS?

[taxjungle]

What would you do?....
New client comes into office. Her husband left her & he returned to China in 2004. She hasn't heard from him since then nor knows if he is even alive. Her last year's tax return shows that she has been filing as Single.

I'm inclined to file her as Single since in the back of my mind a person can be declared as legally dead after 7 years.

What would you do? file as Single or MFS in this particular case?

[ChEAr$]

Is she married? still?

there's your answer.

Reminds me of girl who wanted to claim HOH one year. She had read the instructions, or maybe somebody had told her about the "considered unmarried" bit. Questioning her about her and husband's actual residency, she told how he "stayed over in Alabama" whenever he wanted to, iow, he came and went for weeks at a time, therefore she didn't "consider herself married."

[spanel]

Mfs

Shes married until she has a death certificate or walks her butt down to the courthouse and files for a divorce.

Then you have to tell her to amend any return thats single. There are quite a few credits you cant get filing MFS.

Chris

[JohnH]

Is she married? still?

there's your answer.

Reminds me of girl who wanted to claim HOH one year. She had read the instructions, or maybe somebody had told her about the "considered unmarried" bit. Questioning her about her and husband's actual residency, she told how he "stayed over in Alabama" whenever he wanted to, iow, he came and went for weeks at a time, therefore she didn't "consider herself married."

Makes sense to me.
But the real question in Alabama is, does she still consider herself to be his first cousin?

[fdhrb1]

Single

The IRS clearly stipulates if the two parties did not live together during the year then she can be considered single for tax purposes and if she has a dependent than the Head of Household can be implemented, I must say this is basic stuff how in the world this received so many wrong answers is amusing.

[Gary2]

The IRS clearly stipulates if the two parties did not live together during the year then she can be considered single for tax purposes and if she has a dependent than the Head of Household can be implemented, I must say this is basic stuff how in the world this received so many wrong answers is amusing.

I'm afraid you're misunderstanding it (or misstating it). In order to be considered unmarried if you didn't live together for the last half of the year, you must effectively satisfy the HoH requirements with your child. If there's no child, then it's still MFS.

In other words, the rule pretty much never results in Single as a filing status.

[FEDUKE404]

Please enlighten us

The IRS clearly stipulates if the two parties did not live together during the year then she can be considered single for tax purposes and if she has a dependent than the Head of Household can be implemented, I must say this is basic stuff how in the world this received so many wrong answers is amusing.

Can you please provide a cite for this exception so that I may add it to my personal reference materials?

Otherwise, these are the rules as I know them:

1 - Your marital status on the last day of the year determines your marital status for the entire year.

2- Single filing status generally applies to anyone who is unmarried, divorced or legally separated according to state law.

FE

[dyne]

TheTaxBook page 3-14 halfway down the page says under the Heading
Married individuals considered unmarried-- Can be considered unmarried for HOH
purposes if certain requirements are met--and lists several requirements such
as they must have lived apart from spouse for the last six months and a joint return
is NOT filed and the taxpayers home was the main home of the taxpayer's child,etc.
for more than half of the year. I have rarely encountered this!

[DMICPA]

Married or Single

The H O H rules are different from the single rules.

If you are still married and not legally separated under a divorce or separate maintenance agreement you cannot file as single.

You can be considered "unmarried" for Head of Household status if certain conditions are met.

[dyne]

Another point occurred to me: What if the son or daughter is over 24 years of age but had little or no income and lived with the taxpayer. The son or daughter would not then qualify as a "child" but could perhaps qualify as a "Qualifying Relative" under the NEW rules. It appears to me then that the taxpayer would NOT be entitled to HOH status and must revert back to MFS status? What do you all think?

[DMICPA]

H O H for child

Why wouldn't the taxpayer be entitled to Head of Household? The taxpayer would be considered unmarried, the child, I assume, has a valid Social Security number. It seems that the taxpayer would qualify.

[Gary2]

Another point occurred to me: What if the son or daughter is over 24 years of age but had little or no income and lived with the taxpayer. The son or daughter would not then qualify as a "child" but could perhaps qualify as a "Qualifying Relative" under the NEW rules. It appears to me then that the taxpayer would NOT be entitled to HOH status and must revert back to MFS status? What do you all think?

I don't see anything that says a child has to be a qualifying child for the "considered unmarried" rules to kick in, only that the child can be claimed as a dependent.

[dyne]

To qualify for HOH the dependent must be a CHILD, etc and under the new rules a
son or daughter aged 24 or older does not qualify as a child according to TheTaxBook
page 3-15 item 6 unless the son or daughter is disabled. Am I interpreting this correctly?

[Gary2]

To qualify for HOH the dependent must be a CHILD, etc and under the new rules a
son or daughter aged 24 or older does not qualify as a child according to TheTaxBook
page 3-15 item 6 unless the son or daughter is disabled. Am I interpreting this correctly?

Not unless it's too late in the day for me to read straight.

Check the code.

[dtlee]

To qualify for HOH the dependent must be a CHILD, etc and under the new rules a
son or daughter aged 24 or older does not qualify as a child according to TheTaxBook
page 3-15 item 6 unless the son or daughter is disabled. Am I interpreting this correctly?

Nowhere does the code use the phrase Qualifying Child for this rule. In fact a nephew or a grandchild could be a Qualifying Child but would not allow a married individual to be considered unmarried for the head of household filling status. The relationship is that of being a child, stepchild, adopted child, or foster child. Age of the child has no bearing since the child could be a Qualifying Relative or a Qualifying Child.