QUESTION
What will be my status when I file my taxes and how do I classify my income?
Asked on Mar 17th, 2014 on Taxation - Michigan
More details to this question:
I have a spouse who is not living with me or my child. He is sending me money voluntarily but there has been no legal separation or divorce. I am not working. He is my only source of income. I want to file taxes separately because he has no respect for the law. In the past, he filed joint without my consent and I now owe the IRS for previous years. He is not communicating with me, just sending money. I don't know what to file (Head of Household, Single, etc). and I don't know how to classify the income: child support or spousal support. He has threatened to leave the country before and I cannot afford to antagonize him by filing a divorce or "ANYTHING" that might draw attention to his financial dealings. I just want to file for what I am getting and be compliant. He is getting w-2 but won't provide them and my reading is I am supposed to claim 1/2 his income but I don't even know what it is and he will not disclose.
2 ANSWERS
Commercial & Bankruptcy Law Attorney serving Powell, OH
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Ronald K. Nims
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Because you're married and don't have a legal separation, if you file a tax return, the status would be "married, filing separately". However, payments between spouses are not considered income for tax purposes. If you file a return, it would show zero income. In Ohio, you aren't considered to have earned half his income (Ohio isn't a community property state). If he filed joint returns for previous years and signed your name without your knowledge and permission, you need to file Form 14039 Identity Theft Affidavit. You have no tax liability for years in which you have no income and didn't sign (or consent to) your spouse's filing a joint return. However when the IRS got the joint return from your husband, they assume that you also signed it. You need to inform them of the facts.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2014 at 3:38 PM
Appellate Attorney serving Grosse Pointe Farms, MI
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Musilli Brennan Associates, PLLC
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See an tax preparer, it sounds as if you are married filing separately.
Answered on Mar 18th, 2014 at 2:00 PM