Single or MFS?

[dtlee]

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.

Publication 501

Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

Married persons living apart. If you live apart from your spouse and meet certain tests. You may be considered unmarried If this applies to you, you can file as head of household even though you are not divorced or legally separated. If you qualify to file as head of household your standard deduction will be higher. Also, your tax will be lower and you may be able to claim the earned income credit.

Not sure of the question here, but by living apart in this situation, a taxpayer is allowed to be considered as Head of Household. This does not dissolve the marriage and is not permanent. Without the child in this context, the individual returns to one of the two married statuses unless widowed, divorced or living under a court decree of separate maintenance (or an annullment). As mentioned repeatedly in the thread, having children in the home does not allow an individual to file as "Single."

[FEDUKE404]

The things you can learn here!

Publication 501

Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information

Married persons living apart. If you live apart from your spouse and meet certain tests. You may be considered unmarried If this applies to you, you can file as head of household even though you are not divorced or legally separated. If you qualify to file as head of household your standard deduction will be higher. Also, your tax will be lower and you may be able to claim the earned income credit.

I think there is a bit of a difference between a married person being "considered unmarried" (and meeting other criteria necessary to use the HOH filing status) versus same filing as "single."

But thanks for the update from Pub 501....and the revealing information on your firm.

FE

[fdhrb1]

Lol

The original post did not indicate if a child was involved so my question is what deference in the outcome of Single or MFS, If the husband has been in China for 7 years he most likely will not file a US tax return and there for tax purposes is non existent. She can itemize if she wishes or not and the bottom line of the return will be the same. And HRB stands for Hubert, Roberts and Blumes.

[BP.]

April 1 ??

my question is what deference in the outcome of Single or MFS ... the bottom line of the return will be the same.

In answer to your question, and as others will probably post in better detail, I suppose the main difference in outcome and bottom line would be reflected in tax bracket variations and treatment of certain credits & deductions under the two filing statuses.

[David1980]

Oh and by the way HRB stands for Hubert, Roberts and Barns tax service of western MA. We are all EA's, Thats Enrolled Agents for all you CPA's out there. We guarentee our work and are availible all year unlike you guy's locking your door on the 17th. If you taught tax before computers than you may want to revisit the tax code since it has changed in the last 20 or so years.

Well, it's good that you guarantee your work. Do you pay the tax, penalties, and interest or just penalties, and interest?

BTW, the considered unmarried thing comes from section 7703 (b).

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/7703

(b) Certain married individuals living apart
For purposes of those provisions of this title which refer to this subsection, if—
(1) an individual who is married (within the meaning of subsection (a)) and who files a separate return maintains as his home a household which constitutes for more than one-half of the taxable year the principal place of abode of a child (within the meaning of section 152 (f)(1)) with respect to whom such individual is entitled to a deduction for the taxable year under section 151 (or would be so entitled but for section 152 (e)),
(2) such individual furnishes over one-half of the cost of maintaining such household during the taxable year, and
(3) during the last 6 months of the taxable year, such individual’s spouse is not a member of such household,
such individual shall not be considered as married.

[Questionguy101]

The original post did not indicate if a child was involved so my question is what deference in the outcome of Single or MFS, If the husband has been in China for 7 years he most likely will not file a US tax return and there for tax purposes is non existent. She can itemize if she wishes or not and the bottom line of the return will be the same. And HRB stands for Hubert, Roberts and Blumes.

We are not talking about the outcome or the bottom line of the tax return. The taxpayer in question is a married person and his status should not be misrepresented as single in the tax return. The information that you quoted is only applicable to the determination of filing status as a HOH. Someone can be considered as a single person under a special situation to qualify for filing as a HOH does not mean he can take it to the next level to file as single. I hope you can see the difference there.

By the way, I would not reveal the true name of the firm that I work for if I were you. You are doing a disservice to the reputation of your firm here.

[taxjungle]

I'm the original poster

I'm surprised my post brought so many responses. Thanks to all of you. But, to clarify things, there are no children involved. I FILED THE RETURN AS MFS and will continue to do so until my client
does something legal about her situation. She'll be receiving Soc. Sec. in a few years, therefore, has time to get this legalized so as not to affect her Soc. Sec. Benefits, especially if her husband decides to show up after all these years.

Thank goodness the rush will soon be over! The very best to all of you. Thank you again!!!