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How Should a Married Person File to Get the Largest Tax Refund

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  • 11-07-2012, 12:34 PM
    slk1974
    How Should a Married Person File to Get the Largest Tax Refund
    Here's the situation. My tax refunds are offset every year due to arrears in child support,which is fine,I owe it so I'm not arguing. My question is,my wife started working earlier this year and actually did make more than I, so I am wondering the best way to file our taxes so that she get's all that it due to her, the EIC, plus our child tax credit for our 3 children. We have been witholding from our paychecks hers/0 and mine/4. Can anyone tell me if this is the correct way to withold and which way to file? I understand filing joint will take longer for her to get her refund(due to the Injured Spouse form),but is it to our benefit to do this or file seperate? Thank you in advance :)
  • 11-07-2012, 01:29 PM
    Disagreeable
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    It is to your benefit to pay off the child support quickly. Apparently that is not your concern. I suggest since your goal is not to pay child support, you pay a tax professional to work out which way she will get the most back. That is not the same as getting the most back from the government, which is a different goal.
  • 11-07-2012, 02:55 PM
    Foster_Foster
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    You would discuss the finer details of your situation with a local tax professional. I wouldn't seem best to act on suggestion from strangers based on next to no info. From a layman, it would seem smarter for her to file separately if she doesn't want to get caught up in the rigamarole involved with having to worry about filing "injured spouse" (innocent spouse) paperwork with regard to however much of a refund is hers and shouldn't be subject to your child support obligation.

    (It also might be smarter to adjust your exemptions such that you don't get any refund at all but can take advantage of more money on a regular basis and not give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan every year.)
  • 11-07-2012, 03:33 PM
    llworking
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    Quote:

    Quoting Foster_Foster
    View Post
    You would discuss the finer details of your situation with a local tax professional. I wouldn't seem best to act on suggestion from strangers based on next to no info. From a layman, it would seem smarter for her to file separately if she doesn't want to get caught up in the rigamarole involved with having to worry about filing "injured spouse" (innocent spouse) paperwork with regard to however much of a refund is hers and shouldn't be subject to your child support obligation.

    That is kind of bad advice. They would not be eligible for many of the credits for children that are available if they filed separately. There is rarely every an instance, with a married couple with children, where it would be even remotely in their best interest to file married filing separate returns.

    That is why the injured spouse form exists.

    Quote:

    (It also might be smarter to adjust your exemptions such that you don't get any refund at all but can take advantage of more money on a regular basis and not give Uncle Sam an interest-free loan every year.)
    They may not be able to do that. If they qualify for earned income credit it would be truly impossible to arrange their exemptions in a manner that would avoid a refund. In fact, even just the child tax credits make that nearly impossible for many married couples.
  • 11-07-2012, 03:34 PM
    Bubba Jimmy
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    The rules for Earned Income Credit are not difficult for a lay person to understand. If you are married and file separately you are not entitled to the EIC... period. That is because filing status MFS is specifically excluded from claiming EIC, and there's no more information needed. Navigate to page 240 in IRS Pub. 17.

    It would be better for unknowledgable people not to answer questions involving serious money for real people. With regard to Injured Spouse claims with IRS form 8379, I have seen the IRS be extremely fair in allocating refund amounts to the injured spouse. It is best to get help with it, though, because the allocations make all the difference. Yes, it takes 12 weeks to receive the refund, but at least you maximize the amount. Adjusting withholdings only makes sense if you don't receive large refundable credits in excess of your tax liability. If you do then adjusting your withholding to zero doesn't help. You'd still be leaving money on the table.
  • 11-07-2012, 04:26 PM
    Disagreeable
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    Quote:

    Quoting Bubba Jimmy
    View Post
    The rules for Earned Income Credit are not difficult for a lay person to understand. If you are married and file separately you are not entitled to the EIC... period. That is because filing status MFS is specifically excluded from claiming EIC, and there's no more information needed. Navigate to page 240 in IRS Pub. 17.

    It would be better for unknowledgable people not to answer questions involving serious money for real people. With regard to Injured Spouse claims with IRS form 8379, I have seen the IRS be extremely fair in allocating refund amounts to the injured spouse. It is best to get help with it, though, because the allocations make all the difference. Yes, it takes 12 weeks to receive the refund, but at least you maximize the amount. Adjusting withholdings only makes sense if you don't receive large refundable credits in excess of your tax liability. If you do then adjusting your withholding to zero doesn't help. You'd still be leaving money on the table.

    Some of us have the knowledge. We just prefer not to assist people dodging their child support obligations.
  • 11-08-2012, 07:16 AM
    slk1974
    Re: Best Way to Get Large Refund Filing Married/Joint or Married/Seperate
    First of thank you for responding so quickly :) Okay so basically YES file married/joint. Seems like it is in our best interest,how long it takes makes no difference when we are going to get her full refund due to her. And as far as the witholding, not going to make much difference if she has it at 0 or 3 then? Only reason I asked about the withholding is because I have read that adjusting hers to 0 and mine to 3(our children), can in turn result in the entire refund being due to my wife,because she paid in more tax than I.
    And we are going to seek help with the entire return to ensure it is all done correctly.
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