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Getting married or just got married then you need to think about whether you
want to file tax returns jointly with your spouse or singly. The IRS gives
individuals the choice. However, filing jointly according to tax gurus has more
advantages than filing the tax returns singly.
Before you take any decisions you must study the pros and cons of the two
choices carefully and decide what is best for you and never follow
advice because a financial whiz recommends it.
The IRS considers an individual as married if you are legally married
on the last day of the year. So, read through all the rules and discuss the
issue with your spouse. A joint return means you and your spouse need to
sign the joint return and club all your finances and savings together. According
to the IRS, the tax payable on a joint return may be lower than the tax payable
on two individual returns.
In a joint return filed by married couples:
• The standard return may be higher.
• And tax benefits not applicable to individual tax returns would apply.
The IRS publication 501 Married Filing Jointly gives details.
In a joint return, both spouses include all the income clubbed together and all
the applicable deductions and credits. In a joint tax return both spouses must sign
the return and accept full responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the
tax return details. In case of joint returns both individuals must jointly accept
responsibility for payment of taxes, interest, or penalties irrespective of who
earned the money. The only exceptions are: innocent spouse relief, separation of
liability, or equitable relief.
To file a joint return you must be legally married as of December 31st of the tax
year and incase one partner in the marriage died during the year you can still file
a joint tax return except if you divorced or remarried during the year under
consideration for tax return.
• To file a joint return you must check the married filing jointly box
present on line 2 of forms 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ.
• Joint filing is a great advantage if one spouse has a significant income.
• Consider filing individually if both spouses work and have large incomes
and itemized deductions.
• Find out about filing a tax return as the head of household if your wife
does not live with you but there are children from the marriage.
Filing federal tax returns just means that you need to be systematic, know which
forms to fill, get all the documents and forms you need in order and use readily
available quick tax facts to ensure that you are not missing any important items.
See http://taxes.about.com/od/2007taxes/qt/quicktaxfacts07.htm and
http://taxes.about.com/od/2006taxes/qt/quicktaxfacts06.htm .
The deadline for filing tax returns for 2006 is Tuesday April 17, 2007 because
april 15th is a Sunday and April 16th is a holiday “Emancipation Day.” Keep in
mind that after the IRS printed and distributed forms for 2006 the Congress in
the US passed the “Tax Relief and Health Care Act” which extended several tax breaks
that expired in 2005. So, check the IRS website for eligibilities and details before
filing your tax forms.
About Author
Barry Allen is a freelance writer for Online Tax
Firm, the premier website to find tax, return tax, tax software, free tax filing,
sales tax, services tax,income tax, property tax and many more.
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