Home Page link  

Can a couple married on December 30th file married joint if one is being claimed as a dependent

  
Groups | Search | About
User Password
Register Now! Lost Password?

Taxes General Forum - Tax professionals meeting place and answers to queries. (Moderated)

 Post an article  get this group's latest topics as an RSS feed add this group's latest topics to your My MSN content add this group's latest topics to your My Yahoo content  add this group's latest topics to your Google content  YahooMyWeb Yahoo!  Google Google  Windows Live Favorites Windows Live  del.icio.us del.icio.us  digg digg  Add to Netscape Netscape
Subject Author Date
Can a couple married on December 30th file married joint if one is being claimed as a dependent impalpable_2002 02-27-2007
Posted by Bill Brown on March 1, 2007, 6:47 am
Please log in for more thread options
> You can file a joint return if you want to. If you do so,
> her parents will not be able to claim her as a dependent
> unless the only reason you are filing a joint return is
> to get back all your withholding because you don't owe
> any tax.

Actually it's a bit stricter than than. A person filing a
joint return can be claimed as a dependent if and only if
the proposed dependent and the spouse would get all their
money back whether filing married-separate or jointly.

If filing a joint return results in a bigger refund (from
EIC or refundable child credit, as examples) then a joint
return destroys the dependency exemption for anyone else.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Impalpable on March 1, 2007, 8:49 pm
Please log in for more thread options
>> impalpable_2...@hotmail.com wrote:

>>> I am a bit confused by the dependent tax rules for 2006-on.
>>>
>>> My wife and I were married December 30, 2006. We would like
>>> to file married-joint for the obvious benefits, but her
>>> parents also want to claim here since they payed her tuition
>>> and over 50% of her expenses for the year.
>>>
>>> According to the rules I have seen, her parents can still
>>> claim her as a dependent regardless of marital status.
>>> Half of the people I talked to said we can file
>>> married-joint, but that her 3,300 deduction can not be
>>> claimed. The other half say we must file separate and take
>>> the penalties.
>>>
>>> Can anyone clarify which status may be used?

>> You can file a joint return if you want to. If you do so,
>> her parents will not be able to claim her as a dependent
>> unless the only reason you are filing a joint return is
>> to get back all your withholding because you don't owe
>> any tax.
>>
>> If you want to allow her parents to claim her, then you
>> must each file married filing separately.

> Are the parents certain that they will get a benefit from
> claiming the daughter as a dependent?

They aren't sure yet. They have a CPA doing their taxes,
and they have income from 4 states. It is taking them
awhile to get back to me. I'm not sure why our federal
refund gets larger when filing joint. It just happens when
I try turbotax online. She only made 2k last year. Joint
we made just under 40k, so I tried running it through the
various freefile services to see what happened. Perhaps it
is because she gets all of her taxable income back and
deserves more ? Either way she doesn't get the personal
deduction because she is being claimed. We are both using
our standard deductions as there is not much to itemize as
newlyweds fresh out of school.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Katie on March 3, 2007, 4:29 am
Please log in for more thread options
>> impalpable_2...@hotmail.com wrote:
>>> I am a bit confused by the dependent tax rules for 2006-on.

>>> My wife and I were married December 30, 2006. We would like
>>> to file married-joint for the obvious benefits, but her
>>> parents also want to claim here since they payed her tuition
>>> and over 50% of her expenses for the year.
>>>
>>> According to the rules I have seen, her parents can still
>>> claim her as a dependent regardless of marital status.
>>> Half of the people I talked to said we can file
>>> married-joint, but that her 3,300 deduction can not be
>>> claimed. The other half say we must file separate and take
>>> the penalties.

>> Can anyone clarify which status may be used?
>> You can file a joint return if you want to. If you do so,
>> her parents will not be able to claim her as a dependent
>> unless the only reason you are filing a joint return is
>> to get back all your withholding because you don't owe
>> any tax.
>>
>> If you want to allow her parents to claim her, then you
>> must each file married filing separately.

> Both She and I will be receiving refunds on federal. When I
> file my state separate I show a refund, but together we show
> owing a $43 penalty. Is it possible to file federal joint
> and then each file our own state ? Hers is in a different
> state than mine.

It depends on the states involved. Often states require the
same filing status as federal, but there are exceptions.

Katie in San Diego

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Posted by Impalpable on March 4, 2007, 8:50 pm
Please log in for more thread options
>>>> I am a bit confused by the dependent tax rules for 2006-on.
>>>> My wife and I were married December 30, 2006. We would like
>>>> to file married-joint for the obvious benefits, but her
>>>> parents also want to claim here since they payed her tuition
>>>> and over 50% of her expenses for the year.
>>>>
>>>> According to the rules I have seen, her parents can still
>>>> claim her as a dependent regardless of marital status.
>>>> Half of the people I talked to said we can file
>>>> married-joint, but that her 3,300 deduction can not be
>>>> claimed. The other half say we must file separate and take
>>>> the penalties.

>>> Can anyone clarify which status may be used?
>>> You can file a joint return if you want to. If you do so,
>>> her parents will not be able to claim her as a dependent
>>> unless the only reason you are filing a joint return is
>>> to get back all your withholding because you don't owe
>>> any tax.
>>>
>>> If you want to allow her parents to claim her, then you
>>> must each file married filing separately.

>> Both She and I will be receiving refunds on federal. When I
>> file my state separate I show a refund, but together we show
>> owing a $43 penalty. Is it possible to file federal joint
>> and then each file our own state ? Hers is in a different
>> state than mine.

> It depends on the states involved. Often states require the
> same filing status as federal, but there are exceptions.

All of my income was in IL . Hers was in MO.

<< ======================================================= >>
<< The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, >>
<< nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties >>
<< that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. >>
<< >>
<< The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting posts >>
<< to this newsgroup as well as our anti-spamming policy >>
<< are at www.asktax.org. >>
<< Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ======================================================= >>

Similar ThreadsPosted
can a dependent file married-joint status ? February 27, 2007, 3:17 pm
Married filing joint or separately? January 1, 2008, 9:40 pm
Quarterly estimated tax payments for married couple March 23, 2007, 6:31 am
Married couple earning ~$31,100/year with just over $25,000 in IRS liabilities - installment agreement or OIC? September 12, 2008, 10:45 am
Carryback, NOL from single filing year to married filing joint year; completing 1040X August 29, 2007, 1:31 am
Married filing Sep April 22, 2007, 2:30 pm
Effect of Married Checkbox on W-4? January 24, 2007, 2:15 am
married living in 2 different states April 12, 2007, 12:06 am
Married filing Jointly April 18, 2007, 1:57 am
married - living in different states April 20, 2008, 2:03 pm

Contact Us | Privacy Policy
This site is not affiliated with Intuit - makers of Quickbooks and Quicken software
This site is not affiliated with Sage Software - makers of Peachtree accounting software
XML SitemapXML Sitemap