Pay less as a single? Sure he would. He would also be
breaking the law. Until the divorce is final, (since he has
no children living with him) he can file married joint or
married separate. Period. She should have known that (and
may have).

Nan, EA in LA

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Stuart O. Bronstein <spamtrap[at]lexregia.com> wrote:
- quote -

Stu,

When I teach my Intro Tax course, I have everyone repeat the
following Mantra at least 6 times:

Begin

If you're Married you cannot file Single

If you're Single you cannot file Married

Repeat.

In this example, if wife filed HoH and itemized, husband's
standard deduction is now $0 (unless he qualifies as HoH as
well.)

__
Art Kamlet ArtKamlet [at] AOL.com Columbus OH K2PZH

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naneklund[at]aol.com (Nan Eklund) wrote:

- quote -

After they separated she might not have wanted to file a
joint return, which would give him access to some or all of
her her financial and tax records. In that case, wouldn't
he pay less tax filing single as opposed to married filing
separately?

Stu

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Had a new client who started filing for divorce in 2001, still
not final. He had been living separately for about 5 years.
He was a "partner" with his wife in a business and his wife
filed his tax returns for him.

Why not? She is a CPA.

Of course, she was filing him as single and herself as head
of household. I think she skipped income tax 101.

Nan, EA in LA

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"Harlan Lunsford" <hlunsfordns[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:

- quote -

My friend was working in England for a U.S. based company,
He married a English woman in 1988. He got transferred back
to the States in 1992 and she chose to stay in England (no
children and no divorce).

He gets married again in 1995. Second wife is a CPA. This
was a marriage made in hell.

Now it's January 1999. If they were not having enough
problems, she signs for and reads divorce papers the first
wife needs him to sign.

She filed amended returns for 1995 (Single). 1996 (HoH), and
1997 (HoH). Talk about vengence.

He said jokingly later that he would have lost the money
anyway in the market collapse of 2000-2001.

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"Harlan Lunsford" <hlunsfordns[at]bellsouth.net> wrote:

- quote -

Many years ago, I had a client with a very strange tale to tell.

It seems that her "husband" had deserted a wife in Pennsylvania
years earlier. A few years later, he married another woman in
California and then, after a few years, deserted her. Finally,
in Hawaii, he married my client. There was some evidence that
the wife in Pennsylvania had filed for divorce, but after the
marriage to the California woman. My client did not know for
sure if the divorce had become final and she had no evidence
that the California wife had obtained a divorce.

My client and her "husband" had filed joint returns and owed
IRS money. She came to me to help negotiate a payment schedule
with IRS.

The question was, was she actually married? Since her "husband"
was still married to someone else, her marriage was not legal,
thus could she file jointly?

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what the final result was.
My client moved to Florida and I lost contact with her. But,
I think we should have filed amended returns using HoH status
(there were children involved) and recalculating the taxes for
all open years.

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Anybody ever had this happen? Today marked the second time
in many years. (Don't ask)

She's about 24 years old, no kids, been filing separate
return from her husband since they were married. Always a
balance due, still owes IRS from 2002, paid 50, but heard
nothing from them on installment agreement.

So she calls today and says 'Guess What? " Okay I'll bite, I
say. (Really? she asks? but we won't go there.)

Seems she has now found out she's not married. Long story,
but when she and hubby tried to get divorce several years
ago, neither paid the lawyer. This year, when she hires
another lawyer to do the deed, he finds out that the first
lawyer, EVEN THOUGH NEVER PAID!, had actually filed the
papers and the judge had signed the divorce!

AS I say, one time before many years ago, a girl found out
later she wasn't really married, but this time is remarkable
re the first lawyer's actions. Have you EVER heard of
anything like this?

Cheer$,
Harlan Lunsford, EA in LA

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