dextin Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Hello All, I'm from California.... My wife moved out on December of 2015 and said she wanted a divorce. We have both been living a part since then in our own places. She filed in August 2016 but the divorce isn't final until February 2017. Since we both have been living as if we are single in 2016, can we file 2016 as single? Do we have to file Married Jointly or Married Separate? She makes a lot more than I do and we ALWAYS owe and I'm afraid I will owe if we file together. For 2015, if we filed jointly or separate, we/I still owed A LOT. If I would have filed single, I would have got a return BUT she still WOULD have owed money. I'm afraid I will get stuck with another tax invoice. Any suggestions? When I do a search online, I get many yes and no answers and don't know which way to go. Thanks for reading this and I would love any feedback. Link to post Share on other sites
amaysngrace Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 I'm not sure but I think that if you're married for all of 2016 then you need to file as married filing separately. But you'd be best to speak to an accountant in your state. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 If your partnership has not been legally severed, by legal separation or dissolution, for any part of a given tax year, the IRS considers you married for the entire tax year. When my exW and I were divorcing, we filed 'married filing separately'. Due to the length of the divorce, it spanned two tax years so we had to do that for two years. That was many years ago and no problems with the IRS. Married filing separate made sense since we had already settled things out and weren't privy to each other's personal finances beyond what was officially shared during the divorce process. It enabled no contact, which I consider to be quite healthy. YMMV. I'm not a tax expert by any stretch but have done my personal and business taxes since the 1970's. So far, so good. Last year was 158 pages, a personal record. Thank you IRS. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Popsicle Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 Yes, you can file as married filing separately for 2016, and I suggest you do this asap. To file jointly, she will need your signature. Don't give it to her and as I said, file separately asap, then tell her afterwards. She won't be able to do anything about it and her tax bill will be her tax bill, and yours will be yours. Do you have kids? Because if you do, only one of you can claim them and the person who gets to do that is the one who the children lives with most of the time, and has proof that they live with them. The same is true for mortgage interest paid for the home. Only one of you can claim this. Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 OP, I checked the latest from the IRS and stand corrected: Unmarried persons. You are unmarried for the whole year if either of the following applies. You have obtained a final decree of divorce or separate maintenance by the last day of your tax year. You must follow your state law to determine if you are divorced or legally separated. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p504/ar02.html Hence, you are considered married for 2016 and can choose joint or separate as you decide and in 2017 you can file as unmarried if your dissolution is final on or before the last day of the calendar year. Good to know on the outside chance I ever get married again. Of course, IRS can change things at any time, and often do! Oh, forgot...welcome to LS! Link to post Share on other sites
DKT3 Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 California is not a common law state so in order to file single you will need to be divorced. The IRS usually allows that to be decided at the state level. So your only option is married/married filing separately. Unfortunately, that will most likely leave to responsible for tax debt. Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Lucky Posted October 29, 2016 Share Posted October 29, 2016 California is not a common law state so in order to file single you will need to be divorced. The IRS usually allows that to be decided at the state level. So your only option is married/married filing separately. Unfortunately, that will most likely leave to responsible for tax debt. ^^^ This. How you file and whom the IRS ultimately determines to be responsible can be two very separate things. Spend a little to save a lot, talk to an accountant or tax attorney... Mr. Lucky Link to post Share on other sites
spideywoman Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 OP, I checked the latest from the IRS and stand corrected: Unmarried persons. You are unmarried for the whole year if either of the following applies. You have obtained a final decree of divorce or separate maintenance by the last day of your tax year. You must follow your state law to determine if you are divorced or legally separated. https://www.irs.gov/publications/p504/ar02.html Hence, you are considered married for 2016 and can choose joint or separate as you decide and in 2017 you can file as unmarried if your dissolution is final on or before the last day of the calendar year. Good to know on the outside chance I ever get married again. Of course, IRS can change things at any time, and often do! Oh, forgot...welcome to LS! hey thanks for this, carhill and OP. i will be going through the same thing filing next year and was wondering what to do. i'll still check with accountant, though. our situation is a tad more complex since my stbxh and i are both US citizens living abroad. as such we don't have any governing state laws. our court date is next week and soon after i am told we'll have the divorce decree so by the end of 2016 i'll be (or should be) legally divorced, hence filing as an unmarried person. Link to post Share on other sites
Gr8fuln2020 Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 I'm not certain if I'm being redundant here, but here is a TurboTax link to something that may be helpful. https://ttlc.intuit.com/questions/2247635-can-i-file-as-single-if-i-m-married-but-does-not-live-with-my-spouse-for-over-6yrs-and-is-not-legally-seperated-or-divorce Is Head of Household an option for you? Link to post Share on other sites
NopeNah Posted October 30, 2016 Share Posted October 30, 2016 Think I'm going to steal your thread title for a movie.. Link to post Share on other sites
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