We are married, so can busband and I filed married, but two seperate tax forms???

Question

My husband will owe back on next year taxes (2008). We are married and filed together last year (one tax form). Since he will owe on taxes next year...we wanted to know if we can filed married but two seperate tax forms. He wants to pay what he owes and not effect my tax return. Would this be doable?

He ask a co-worker and they said we could not do that. That we had to file the same way as last year. Is this true?

Answer 1

Sure, "married filing separately" is what it's called.

I doubt if it will reduce your tax, though.  In fact, you may end up paying more that way.  If you're in doubt, get the forms and pencil in the numbers both ways and see which one ends up better.

Answer 2

Yes, you can file seperately, regardless of the way you filed the previous year.  However, a couple of issues arise.  One, when you change your filing status, you greatly increase the chance of audit.  Two, filing seperate will increase your tax burden, meaning you'll owe more, or get refunded less.  Bottom line is this, you have to pay your back taxes.  Use your joint return to lessen the tax burden.  Pay them less now, or pay them more later.  

Answer 3

Yes you can file separately, but you usually end up paying more tax that way. My wife and i asked our accountant that same question. He said it was not a good idea financially. (we'd lose a few hundred bux)

Answer 4

You can file as married filing separately - you can switch back and forth between that and joint every year if you want to.

Answer 5

You can file married filing seperately.

Answer 6

As others have noted, you can file either way--jointly or separately. While it's true that it may be advantageous tax-wise to file jointly, it also means that you're legally obligated for whatever you jointly owe. That's something to consider.

By the way, if he knows that he will owe (which is presumably because he didn't have enough withholding or didn't pay estimated taxes), he is well advised to correct that situation immediately if possible.  

Answer 7

You can but you might end up paying more taxes if you file separately. You could also get audited.

Answer 8

Yeah you can do it, but you should talk to a professional because 9 out of 10 times it is more beneficial for a married couple to file joint. By beneficial I mean cumulatively as a household, your household will typically owe less to the government when filing jointly than if filing married but separate. Only in very rare instances is it favorable for a couple to file that way.