I had income but my wife didn't. Should I file jointly, or separately?
371862
I use Turbo Tax every year.\nI do both our taxes separately and then I do them jointly.\n Whichever way works out best for us is the return I submit.
974786
You still need to file, and would be better if you do it before they contact you (and if you had income that was reported, they will eventually, by which time you'll owe even more in interest and penalties.\n\nYou should always file even if you don't have the money to pay.  If you can't pay right away, they'll set up a payment plan, and yes, you'll be charged interest.\n\nYou're not going to be in some kind of major trouble, so don't worry about that.  Just go ahead and file, or contact the IRS and tell them your situation.  If they get your return without a check, they'll contact you to set up a plan to pay.
313249
it's up to u u can file either way since u where married for atleast 1/2 the yr!!see what way u get more $$ or owe less!
419113
The "marriage penalty" no longer exists.  So, it is no longer intrinsically better to file separately.  Some couples though, dependant on their holdings, may get a better deal by filing seperately.\n\nJust for the record, people who are getting divorced are not actually divorced.  They can still file jointly.  And if they own a home, they both benefit from the credit if they file jointly.  Otherwise, only one gets the credit.
722150
It is better to let her file as independant, although, she could just use the one (family member) with the less income to show as her gardian, which will allow her to get either full financial aid or maxium aid. Your daughter should be set., if  she tries any of the above, let her know as soon as possible the faster she files the more money she gets.
117355
He will have to get an ITIN if he does not have a social security number.  You may be ineligible for some deductions, but you can file as Married Filing Jointly if he has an ITIN.
32721
I was in that situation for a long time. I always made more, and so claimed the child myself. Do not file jointly, unless it's going to benefit you. The child earned income credit laws have changed (so my tax guy told me yesterday.) If you're single, you can file as head of household, and get the child earned income credit...and you might also be able to claim your partner as a dependant. My husband was able to claim me as a dependant when he was still my boyfriend. Don't be afraid to ask whoever does your taxes questions, and when in doubt, call the IRS 1-800-829-1040. Good Luck! -Vickie
320550
Start here...there are several rules about states and injured spouse claims.  See what the IRS says...\n\nhttp://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=141236,00.html\n\nIf you live in a community property state, the rules are different and you might be out of luck.  There are also rules about the proportion of income betwen the two spouses and what the may be able to take.\n\n\nDid you file the forms with your taxes?  If not, sometimes it takes a while for the forms to catch up with each other.  You will eventually be compensated.\n\nDo some research on the IRS site http://www.irs.gov and see what you can find.  Call the IRS and ask.  Or consult a tak professional (they've got a good bit of free time now)
772458
If you didn't make enough to pay tax, then you wouldn't be penalized if you file late.  But if you made much of anything, you probably owed tax - even if you didn't owe income tax, you probably owe self-employment tax.  \n\nGo ahead and file.  You'll owe the original tax due, plus interest and possibly penalties, but you won't be in major trouble.  If you wait until they catch up to you, you'll just make things worse.\n\nIf you can't pay all that you owe right away, the IRS will set up a payment plan.
800813
You would be better off being married, your taxed at a lower tax rate.  But...it depends on what each of your incomes are.  Look at the tax tables for single for what you make and then what she makes and see how much tax they would take out...then compare it to the tax table for both of you under the married filing jointly column.
1002466
NO!  You are not married!  And you can't file taxes together if you're not married.  You need to get an accountant to go back and fix that before you get audited by the IRS.\n\nWhy would you think that filing taxes together equals marriage?!?
379244
Not Exactly, you can file separate or you can file joint but you will need to file a form called injured spouse form. That lets IRS know that you were not responsible for his past and (if he owes back taxes) they can only take the portion of the return that is his percentage! I had to do this for five years, because I had back taxes from previous marriage! You have to mail it in and your return will take about 4 months to be processed!! Its a pain but you are not responsible and should not be penalized for something you had no control over!! Hope this helps! Good Luck!\n\nP.S. You can do the form yourself, but its very hard to understand. Places like H&R Block (not a plug,don't work fot them!) can do it easily, but for a fee. There are programs you can use that can probably do it, but I haven't tried them.
223478
If you were a part year resident in a state where you earned no income, but did earn income during that tax year, you'd want to check the resident filing requirements for that state to see if any of your income is taxable even though you earned no income in that state.  \n\nAs a similar example, I live in State A and but only earn income in State B.  Because I'm a resident of State A, I pay income tax there (and in State B) even though my income is earned entirely in state B for the entire year.
299164
If she has no income then she's no required to file taxes. If they were to file jointly then the tax deduction would've higher but it's certainly not required (maybe they didn't know).\n\nAnyway, it sounds to me like you are tying to stick your nose into somebody else's business. I wouldn't if I were you.
178188
If you have a dependent and you support them more than half of their support, then you can be head of household. But if you are marriage and live anytime with in the last 6 month of the year with your spouse then you have to either claim marriage joint or marriage filing separate.
449282
consider filing seperately.  The person without an income just won't have to file anything.  That'll show that their's only one income. You should probably talk to a tax professional to make sure though.
154813
What i would do is got to turbotax.com and plug in all the numbers to see what filing status would work best for you all. Thats what my wife and i did because we were in doubt as to what way would be best to file: Married filing jointly or married filing seperately. You dont even really have to file through them and it will still give you a pretty accurate figure as to what you will actually get