nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Your marriage status on December 31 determines your filing
status. So if you get married on that date, you have your
choice of "married filing joint" or "married filing
separately" but not of filing single.

Dennis

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Your filing status is based on your situation as of the last
day of your tax year. So If you were married on January 1 or
December 31 of the same year, it will be the same. Yes,
there are consequences to getting married.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

A rule of thumb is "whatever you are on December 31st, you
are all year except dead".

Missy Doyle

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -


IRS considers the state as of December 31 as the state for
the entire year. See the intstructions for Form 1040 for
the rules/options of filing status.

http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i104...2.html#d0e3323

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Pretty simple rule: If you are married on December 31, 2006,
you are considered married for ALL of 2006, and cannot file
as Single.

Conversely, if you are married during 2006 and get divorced
on Dec 31, 2006, you are considered UNMARRIED for all of
2006 and cannot use the married option.

In other words, your marital status when the count goes to
zero on New Year's eve determines your filing status for the
tax year.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Marital status is determined on the last day of the tax
year. That is the "cut-off" date. Marital status on that day
determines the available filing statuses. Someone getting
married on Dec 31 has the choices of married filing jointly
and married filing separately.

- quote -

Yep.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Your status for filing is determined on 12/31. If you get
married on 12/31/06 you are considered married for tax year
2006. It works the same way for a divorce. Get divorced on
12/31 and you are not married for the tax year.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Yes. Your marital status is set at midnight of New Year's
Eve. In the case given, high income couples should delay
getting married until New Year's Day and conversely should
divorce on New Year's Eve.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Yes. Your marital status for the tax year is your status at
the end of it.

--
Phil Marti
Clarksburg, MD

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com wrote:

- quote -

Your marital status is determined as of December 31, whether
you get married on Dec 31 for a married status, or divorced
on 12/31 for single status. Ever the romantic, I married my
wife on an anniversary of the date we met. It was near the
end of the year, and the marriage penalty was a killer. I
joked to her about it, told her she was worth every cent (of
the $10K+). She has a good sense of humor. Put up with me
for 12 years. Still introduces me as her 'first husband',
though.

JOE

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com writes:

- quote -

If, on the last day of the tax year (31 December for those
of us who haven't elected a fiscal year) your are in a
married condition, you must file as one of the married
statuses (unless the special HOH rule for someone who hasn't
lived with the spouse for the last 6 months of the year
kicks in).

- quote -

Yes.

- quote -

Absolutely!

--
Rich Carreiro rlcarr[at]animato.arlington.ma.us

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com> wrote:

- quote -

Filing status is determined as of the last day of the year,
immediately before January 1st of the next year.

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

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

<nearly_blind[at]yahoo.com> wrote
- quote -

Yes.

- quote -

As long as the marriage lasted past midnight, you are
considered by the government to have been married all year.

- quote -

Obviously. February 31st sounds dandy to me.

--
Paul A. Thomas, CPA
Athens, Georgia

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >

At what point are you required to file your US tax return
as one of the "married" options rather than "single" ?

For example if you get married on December 31, 2006
do you have to file as "married" on your 2006 return or is
there some kind of time threshold or cut-off date?

The background for this question is that for high income
couples the marriage penalty can be large, so it would
definitely be wise to consider what the rules are before
selecting a wedding date.

Thanks.

<< ================================================== ===== > << The foregoing was not intended or written to be used, > << nor can it used, for the purpose of avoiding penalties > << that may be imposed upon the taxpayer. > << > << The Charter and the Guidelines for submitting > << messages to this newsgroup are at www.asktax.org. > << Copyright (2006) - All rights reserved. > << ================================================== ===== >