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Subject Author Date
Personal exemption for deceased spouse David Chesler 04-21-2008
Posted by Harlan Lunsford on April 21, 2008, 10:16 pm
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 Mark Bole wrote:
> D. Stussy wrote:
>
>>> I'm pretty sure a surviving spouse who is filing as Married Filing
>>> Jointly for the tax year during which the deceased spouse dies takes
>>> the deceased spouse's personal exemption, same as if the decedent were
>>> still living. (Am I wrong?)
>>
>> Yes, it is the same as if the spouse is still living. However, it's not
>> because the taxpayer is taking the spouse's exemption. The spouse is
>> claiming his/her own exemption.
>
> That is strictly a nomenclature issue, most laypeople don't consider the
> dead spouse to be doing much of anything. I catch myself sometimes when
> I start to say to a client "you have to file an individual return for
> the year you die", because of course they don't, even if someone else does.
>
> While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption
> is completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been
> told by someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea,
> for the final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving
> spouse's name and SSN first on the return if previously in the second spot.

Okay. why?

chEAr$,
Harlan

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Posted by Arthur Kamlet on April 21, 2008, 10:39 pm
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>Mark Bole wrote:
>> D. Stussy wrote:
>>
>>>> I'm pretty sure a surviving spouse who is filing as Married Filing
>>>> Jointly for the tax year during which the deceased spouse dies takes
>>>> the deceased spouse's personal exemption, same as if the decedent were
>>>> still living. (Am I wrong?)
>>>
>>> Yes, it is the same as if the spouse is still living. However, it's not
>>> because the taxpayer is taking the spouse's exemption. The spouse is
>>> claiming his/her own exemption.
>>
>> That is strictly a nomenclature issue, most laypeople don't consider the
>> dead spouse to be doing much of anything. I catch myself sometimes when
>> I start to say to a client "you have to file an individual return for
>> the year you die", because of course they don't, even if someone else does.
>>
>> While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption
>> is completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been
>> told by someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea,
>> for the final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving
>> spouse's name and SSN first on the return if previously in the second spot.
>
>Okay. why?


If I had to make a complete guess, I'd say because the software will
pro forma much easier to next year. Maybe.
--


ArtKamlet at a o l dot c o m Columbus OH K2PZH

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< 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 (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>

Posted by Mark Bole on April 22, 2008, 10:42 am
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Harlan Lunsford wrote:
[...]
>> While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption
>> is completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been
>> told by someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea,
>> for the final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving
>> spouse's name and SSN first on the return if previously in the second
>> spot.
>
> Okay. why?

Fortunately others answered with all of the reasons I would have stated.

Even without a deceased spouse situation, the secondary SSN can be
problematic. I saw a routine letter once from California state tax
authority to a wife who started working after many years out of the work
force, and also apparently off the income tax radar. They wanted to
know where her tax returns were for prior years! One of the check boxes
on the response form was "I filed jointly with my spouse in prior years".

-Mark Bole

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< 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 (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>

Posted by Phil Marti on April 21, 2008, 11:53 pm
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"Mark Bole" wrote:

> While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption is
> completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been told by
> someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea, for the
> final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving spouse's name and
> SSN first on the return if previously in the second spot.

I've always done that. It lessens the chance that the next year's ES
payments and return will be filed under the decedent's SSN. People have
been known to just use a voucher or slap on a label without looking at it.
Of course, this is somewhat a holdover from the days when the SSN's were on
the label. They don't call it Newton's first law for nothing.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< 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 (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>

Posted by Condor on April 22, 2008, 12:58 am
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> While the distinction between personal exemption and spousal exemption is
> completely arbitrary and up to the taxpayers involved, I have been told by
> someone much more experienced than I, that it is a good idea, for the
> final MFJ return in this situation, to put the surviving spouse's name and
> SSN first on the return if previously in the second spot.

This type of return will (should?) process just fine with the deceased
spouse's name listed first, however, I always recommend the return list the
surviving spouse's name first. The reason I recommend filing this way is
that in the case of elderly couples who have been married many years and
have typically been filing with the husband's name listed first, if an
entity was ever established on the IRS masterfile for the secondary spouse
(usually the wife), that entity would have dropped off the system many years
ago. Since the secondary spouse will be filing her future returns as a
single taxpayer, and sometimes even making estimated tax payments, listing
her name first on the final MFJ return will obviate future processing
problems that sometimes occur when her entity has dropped off the system or
even if still present contains an old address.


Condor

--
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>
<< 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 (2007) - All rights reserved. >>
<< ------------------------------------------------------- >>

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