IRS- Wrong filing status problems?
By admin on Jun 15, 2009 in Other - Taxes
dazi369 asked:
For some reason my husband’s tax person (C & B) for the last 2 yrs (we have only been married for 2 yrs) has filed his taxes as single-head of household, which is what we had been filing because we weren’t married yet. Now the IRS is taking a look at his case and I had to send in our marriage certificate and proof of residency of my children to show they indeed lived with him. I did and the paper he received back was this. They are keeping his filing status as single head of household w/out any EIC for my children- his step children for 2007 and saying he owes them over $5,000. So I checked into some tax laws and discovered that not only should she have filed it married filing separately, we also should have filed an innocent spouse form (which I never heard of) to keep them from taking money from him that I owe for student loans and child support. I called the IRS and asked for these forms because I need to file them within 30 days and was told she would mail them out that day, it’s been 8 working days and nothing yet. Should we be worried, should we get help from an attorney? I know if I don’t handle this my husband will let it go and then blame me every time he has to repay them and I just can’t live like that anymore. Should we just accept their decision and keep our mouths shut and pay back the $5,000 or should I push to try to make it correct and quite possibly (with my luck) incur more debt to them? HELP!
Thanks Dave T., I knew it was called an Injured Spouse form but the IRS lady said it was an innocent spouse form. Is there a place I can locally pick these forms up as I don’t have a printer? Will the library have them?
I have no income except SS Survivor Benefits for my children. I had a job in 2006-2007 and I filed my own taxes. I was laid off in July, 2007 right before the comp. went belly up. I have since returned to school to finish my 4 year degree. My husband is a roofer which means he is subjected to terms of unemployment due to weather. Just this year alone he has only made $7,000.and since I have been with him he has never made over $20,000. Wasn’t it our tax preparers to inform us of the new rule.? And if it turns out we owe them a lot of money can’t we settle for pennies on the dollar? I know they really need it now with all this takeover stuff going on.
For some reason my husband’s tax person (C & B) for the last 2 yrs (we have only been married for 2 yrs) has filed his taxes as single-head of household, which is what we had been filing because we weren’t married yet. Now the IRS is taking a look at his case and I had to send in our marriage certificate and proof of residency of my children to show they indeed lived with him. I did and the paper he received back was this. They are keeping his filing status as single head of household w/out any EIC for my children- his step children for 2007 and saying he owes them over $5,000. So I checked into some tax laws and discovered that not only should she have filed it married filing separately, we also should have filed an innocent spouse form (which I never heard of) to keep them from taking money from him that I owe for student loans and child support. I called the IRS and asked for these forms because I need to file them within 30 days and was told she would mail them out that day, it’s been 8 working days and nothing yet. Should we be worried, should we get help from an attorney? I know if I don’t handle this my husband will let it go and then blame me every time he has to repay them and I just can’t live like that anymore. Should we just accept their decision and keep our mouths shut and pay back the $5,000 or should I push to try to make it correct and quite possibly (with my luck) incur more debt to them? HELP!
Thanks Dave T., I knew it was called an Injured Spouse form but the IRS lady said it was an innocent spouse form. Is there a place I can locally pick these forms up as I don’t have a printer? Will the library have them?
I have no income except SS Survivor Benefits for my children. I had a job in 2006-2007 and I filed my own taxes. I was laid off in July, 2007 right before the comp. went belly up. I have since returned to school to finish my 4 year degree. My husband is a roofer which means he is subjected to terms of unemployment due to weather. Just this year alone he has only made $7,000.and since I have been with him he has never made over $20,000. Wasn’t it our tax preparers to inform us of the new rule.? And if it turns out we owe them a lot of money can’t we settle for pennies on the dollar? I know they really need it now with all this takeover stuff going on.
On Jun 18, 2009, graceps84 said:
These forms you are looking for, should be online at. It is not your fault, it is your accountant, and he should quit blaming you. I would push to make it correct $5000 is allot of $$, even if you have to pay it over time! If you have a problem, you may want to contact a tax attorney.
On Jun 18, 2009, Dave T said:
If you are married, you only have two ways to file your Federal Income Tax Return with the IRS. The two ways are Married Filing Joint (MFJ) or Married Filing Separately (MFS). MFS does not qualify to get Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
To correct the filing status on your return you need to file Form 1040X. This form can be found on the IRS web site at, in the forms.
You do not want to file an Innocent Spouse Request. To keep at least part of the refund from going to pay for your student loan, you need to file an Injured Spouse Request. This form is also on the IRS web site.
On Jun 19, 2009, Judy said:
You are right that his filing status is wrong – the IRS might not have realized that you are currently married, only that you were at one time which would make him able to claim the children.
Assuming you are currently married, his choices of filing status are married filing a joint return or married filing separately. You didn’t mention anything about working yourself or filing yourself. It’s almost always better (lower tax) to file jointly whether both people are working or only one.
If he files as married filing separately, then your back debts won’t affect him, only his, so no extra forms are needed. If you file a joint return, he’d need to file an injured spouse form (not an innocent spouse form – that’s something totally different) and only your share, if any, of the refund would be taken.
Stepchildren are treated taxwise just like biological children. So if you are legally married, then either way he files, he could claim the children, and if he meets all of the requirements for EIC, then should still be able to get it.
Call your local library and see if they have computers and printers available – they propably do. You can download any forms you need at irs.gov and print them off.
You’d be better off taking all of this paperwork to a professional tax preparer (NOT an attorney), but NOT the one who made a mess of things in the first place. It’ll cost you money, but far less than the $5000 they are asking him to pay back – and from what you’ve said it doesn’t sound like you really owe that if his/your return is done properly.
On Jun 21, 2009, v b said:
You may have bigger problems than you realize. Once the IRS looks at one year and finds a problem, they are supposed to look at a bunch of years.
“head of household, which is what we had been filing because we weren’t married yet”
What year(s) are you talking about? It’s critical to know if any years were for 2004 or earlier and which years were 2005 and before you were married and when exactly did you get married.
For a few years (ending in 2004) the IRS allowed boyfriends to claim their girlfriend’s children as “foster children” for HOH purposes, but not for EIC purposes. (For EIC purposes, the child had to be legally placed in the home by an agency.) Starting in 2005, the boyfriend could claim the children as “Qualifying Relatives” if the girlfriend had virtually no income (for 2007, this was less than $3400 of wages) or didn’t live in the home at all. By providing financial support to children who lived in his home all year, the boyfriend could claim them as “other.” Not foster child, not child, not stepchild, not neice and not nephew. “Qualifying Relative” would get the boyfriend an exemption on the tax return (less income, less tax), but never HOH, EIC or child tax credit. Once you were married, if he didn’t qualify for HOH, his only valid choice was MFS for MFJ with you. On the MFS return, there is no EIC. Once married, on the MFS return, he could claim them, but not for EIC purposes.
Secondly, the IRS generally allows married couples to amend separate tax returns into a joint return for up to 3 years. You may be able to file an MFJ return (merging your income into the return) and reduce the damage a little bit. (It would help if you stated what your income was and what his income was.)