Got married last year but want Husband wants me to continue to file as single HOH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this possible? I am reading that it is not possible. I would get a lot back if I did because I would be single, head of household and have children BUT it seems wrong. Please advise. Thanks!

You're asking if you can lie to the government about your marital status, in order to gain money you would not otherwise get, on a document you will sign under the penalties of perjury. Oh also, you've written into the internet asking questions about it, demonstrating your intent. Congrats, if you go down this road, you will have created an open and shut case of tax fraud!

This. Good Lord.

[Anonymous]

I don’t usually think this is a helpful question but… why did you get married??

[Anonymous]

Does your new DH have a prison wife fetish?

[Anonymous]

Marriage is penalized.

Partner is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

I got married in late November and when I filed taxes for that year, was majorly penalized. At least $25k I owed. Looking back I wish I just said I was still single. I don’t know how they would have ever figured it out. They typically aren’t auditing single 27 year olds earning $160k. Because if I’d known it would be an extra $25k in taxes, I would have asked the minister/courthouse to make the marriage official January 1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this possible? I am reading that it is not possible. I would get a lot back if I did because I would be single, head of household and have children BUT it seems wrong. Please advise. Thanks!

You're asking if you can lie to the government about your marital status, in order to gain money you would not otherwise get, on a document you will sign under the penalties of perjury. Oh also, you've written into the internet asking questions about it, demonstrating your intent. Congrats, if you go down this road, you will have created an open and shut case of tax fraud!

This. Good Lord.

Yes, the IRS is definitely reviewing DCUM for low level tax fraud.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this possible? I am reading that it is not possible. I would get a lot back if I did because I would be single, head of household and have children BUT it seems wrong. Please advise. Thanks!

You're asking if you can lie to the government about your marital status, in order to gain money you would not otherwise get, on a document you will sign under the penalties of perjury. Oh also, you've written into the internet asking questions about it, demonstrating your intent. Congrats, if you go down this road, you will have created an open and shut case of tax fraud!

I mean it originally was her money. She’s just now finding out she gets less of her own money because of her wedding date.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is this possible? I am reading that it is not possible. I would get a lot back if I did because I would be single, head of household and have children BUT it seems wrong. Please advise. Thanks!

You're asking if you can lie to the government about your marital status, in order to gain money you would not otherwise get, on a document you will sign under the penalties of perjury. Oh also, you've written into the internet asking questions about it, demonstrating your intent. Congrats, if you go down this road, you will have created an open and shut case of tax fraud!

I mean it originally was her money. She’s just now finding out she gets less of her own money because of her wedding date.

I think you're misunderstanding why I wrote that. I don't care about a "taxes are theft" view of the world or whatever, you can disagree with taxes all you want and think they're illegitimate, etc., etc. Have fun. I wrote the bolded because lying for the purpose of evading a tax you owe (whether you think you should owe it or not) is a felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment. False statements in other tax contexts or failing to file a return are punished less severely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cannot file as single HOH if you are legally married. This applies to all couples, including same-sex.

How would they know I am married? I did not change my name or address.

State mariage registries, Church registries that report to the state. Usually, when you get married you have to get a state license before any other type of marriage. And social security records. Your DH is playing a scam on you or the state and fed authorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I got married in late November and when I filed taxes for that year, was majorly penalized. At least $25k I owed. Looking back I wish I just said I was still single. I don’t know how they would have ever figured it out. They typically aren’t auditing single 27 year olds earning $160k. Because if I’d known it would be an extra $25k in taxes, I would have asked the minister/courthouse to make the marriage official January 1.

Why get married at all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cannot file as single HOH if you are legally married. This applies to all couples, including same-sex.

Not true. If you live apart for most of the year and your kids mostly live with you, you are fine. It was our situation before our divorce was finalized and TT has an option for it.

OP, if you and H put different addresses on your tax declarations, then yes you can continue. Answer the TT questions like this: are you married? Yes. Does he live with you? No. Do your kids live with you? Yes. It’s not exactly honorable but the chances they will find out are pretty slim. It might look strange if you always put not married and then you are suddenly married but not living together, but I think they don’t really care.
I have a hunch a lot of poor folks do that

This poster is correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You cannot file as single HOH if you are legally married. This applies to all couples, including same-sex.

Not true. If you live apart for most of the year and your kids mostly live with you, you are fine. It was our situation before our divorce was finalized and TT has an option for it.

OP, if you and H put different addresses on your tax declarations, then yes you can continue. Answer the TT questions like this: are you married? Yes. Does he live with you? No. Do your kids live with you? Yes. It’s not exactly honorable but the chances they will find out are pretty slim. It might look strange if you always put not married and then you are suddenly married but not living together, but I think they don’t really care.
I have a hunch a lot of poor folks do that

Why do you think they “don’t really care”? I would not try to cheat the system, OP. It never really works out well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I got married in late November and when I filed taxes for that year, was majorly penalized. At least $25k I owed. Looking back I wish I just said I was still single. I don’t know how they would have ever figured it out. They typically aren’t auditing single 27 year olds earning $160k. Because if I’d known it would be an extra $25k in taxes, I would have asked the minister/courthouse to make the marriage official January 1.

Why get married at all

So I should never get married since I wanted to wait 15 days to make it official to save $25k in taxes?!

[Anonymous]

Think about this logically for a second, OP. Is he also filing as single head of household? So you’re both claiming to be single when you’re not, and you’re both claiming to be the heads of households (which basically means single mom or single dad) when in fact you have a married family unit, raising children together. And you’re going to pay less taxes because of your lies. That’s fraud, and people go to jail for it if they are caught. Did you watch the Real Housewives of New Jersey? You might get a book deal after you get out though.

[Anonymous]

You can cheaat on your taxes, and most of the time you will get away with it. But if you do get audited (unlikely but not impossible) you will be screwed. More important, you will certainly have lost your integrity. Taxes are the price we pay for living in a civilized society.