Married Filing Single

[fina]

I have been filing single during the past 4 years I have been married because my husband is a United Nations employee and a foreigner who doesn't pay any taxes. He doesn't have a S.S. # or tax payer ID and doesn't want one. I had asked my cousin's husband who is an accountant when I got married how I should file and he told me to file single. So that's what I've been doing. I've had my taxes done by 2 different accountants (the last one has done my return for the past 3 years) and this year he says to me-" by the way- you know you're supposed to be filing married filing separately, right?". Which totally freaked me out because now he's saying I've been doing something illegal for the past 4 years and noone had pointed this out before. Now I need to know am I doing something illegal? I have 2 kids now and I think I will end up owing many thousands of dollars (which I don't exactly have sitting around), if I file amended returns for the past 4 years. Can someone please clear this up for me once and for all? Should I open this can of worms and call the IRS and try to amend it or should I just continue filing single?

[Bubba Jimmy]

There is no legal way for a person who is legally married to another person to use "Single" as their filing status. HOwever, IRS Publication 17 states that you will be considered unmarried for head of household purposes if your spouse was a nonresident alien at any time during the year and you don't choose to treat your nonresident spouse as a resident alien. The spouse won't qualify you for HH purposes, but you said you have children and they would make you eligible for HH filing status. However, you also have to meet other rules. For example, you have to be able to demonstrate that you paid over 1/2 the cost of keeping up your home. If you did not, then the only legal filing status available to you otherwise is Married Filing Separately.

Nobody here is going to tell you that it's okay to continue using a filing status that you are not legally entitled to use. As far as prior years, that's a matter for your conscience but amending is what the tax law requires.