Will Form 843 Dependents 2011-2024

Hi, I'm Jeremy Johnson, CPA. Continuing on with our tax facts versus myths series, someone said to me, "Jeremy, I am tired of waiting for my spouse to file. Okay, I'm going to go ahead and file, but I want to file single while I'm waiting for them because they're taking way too long." My first response is, "Whoa, okay, no, you can't do that." Listen, as a married tax filer, you have a couple of options. The first is married filing jointly, and married filing separately. Those are your only two options. Okay, as a married individual who's living with your spouse and you're filing together, (maybe not at the same time), but you're filing together, those are your options. So, you really want to make sure you choose those filing statuses carefully. And if you have a question, please contact your tax preparer or tax planner. Now, I have a lot of questions about, you know, which one should I file jointly or separately? I very seldom seen a tax return come back more favorable to the married couple when they file separately. A lot of times, filing separately is used when one spouse just wants to go ahead and file. The other spouse may not have all of their documentation or they're questioning the taxes that are withheld, so they want to keep it separate. That's when I've seen it be more advantageous, but it's not always about receiving a bigger refund. I've never seen a client receive more of a refund because they filed separately. So, if you're married, you want to do either jointly or separately, but you do not want to file as single or head of household, which is another big one. So, please, please, please make sure you use the correct filing status. And again,...